Ethical issues of managed care

Abstract

In a competitive, monetized medical system, a clash of principles is inevitable; however, amid the tumult in the medical marketplace, the underlying tenets of emergency medical ethics remain inviolate. Although the goals of providing excellent and cost-effective care are not mutually exclusive, the conflicts encountered can only be resolved by appeal to a higher goal: the good of the patient. Both MCOs and EPs must function as agents of individual patients first and foremost. The enterprise of healthcare rests on fidelity, integrity, and trust; therefore, physicians and MCOs must accept and take seriously their important moral, legal, and social obligations to patients and society. Otherwise, third-party cost considerations and provider greed irreversibly could pervert the practice of medicine and destroy the last vestiges of fidelity in the patient-physician relationship.