Measuring outcomes alone is not the answer. There should be a way to reward the doctor for educating a patient about lifestyle modifications and then documenting that the care provided followed patient preferences.
The picture that emerges from study of physician economic behavior is mixed, but from the intensity of responses by some professional societies to Medicare's coding modifier proposal, it appears that economic incentives matter a lot to many of their members.
Amy Barnhorst, MD, Garen Wintemute, MD, MPH, and Marian E. Betz, MD, MPH
When mandatory reporting of risk of violence is not required, physicians should balance patient autonomy and beneficence with patient and public safety.
AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(1):29-35. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.1.ecas1-1801.
Mollie Gordon, MD, Rebecca Chen, MD, John Coverdale, MD, MEd, Mike Schiller, CRMP, Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, and Phuong Nguyen, PhD
Little attention has been given to roles played by human trafficking in health care organizations’ supply chains of key equipment, such as hand sanitizers and gloves.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(4):E348-356. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.348.