Physician-journalists balance the ethical requirements of two professions with competing goals. Physicians must “do patients no harm ” and “keep secret” what they “see or hear”; journalists seek out and disseminate information in service of public enlightenment.
Medical stewardship is a way of describing a relatively new obligation to maximize health care resources. A professionwide conversation about its meaning and value is needed.
With good planning and good will, medical professionals’ right of conscience and patients’ rights to controversial services can be both protected and accommodated.
Teresa M. Waters, PhD and Peter P. Budetti, MD, JD
The National Practitioner Data Bank attempts to help maintain a level of quality and safety assurance by providing data on the clinical competence of physicians.