Physicians can work with their patients to explore less expensive alternatives for delivering health care if physicians welcome the topic of cost during the clinical encounter.
A physicians urges practitioners to use cost-effective alternatives to dispensing samples to patients who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions.
The hospitalist model should be modified to ensure that inpatients receive continuity of care and that their expressed values regarding treatment are maintained once they are admitted.
Physicians are held legally responsible if patients are harmed by not receiving the care that is required, even when the restriction of that care is imposed by a third-party payor.
Physicians can help reduce the large number of patients who do not take their prescription drugs due to the high cost by proactively discussing the topic of drug costs during the clinical encounter and developing a plan for assistance.
Physicians should help patients resolve the issue of medical debt by advocating for change in the health care system on a local and national level and implementing charity care within their offices.
Appropriate use of the pay-for-performance system may improve quality of care by counteracting physician incentives to overtreat in fee-for-service situations or undertreat in capitation plans.