The recess-appointed head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, however, thinks the doctor-patient relationship has to die.
In his book "New Rules" he writes: "Today, this isolated relationship (between doctor and patient) is no longer tenable or possible... Traditional medical ethics, based on the doctor- patient dyad must be reformulated to fit the new mold of the delivery of health care...Regulation must evolve. Regulating for improved medical care involves designing appropriate rules with authority... Health care is being rationalized through critical pathways and guidelines. The primary function of regulation in health care, especially as it affects the quality of medical care, is to constrain decentralized decision making."I would have thought the primary function was to provide medical care to those in need, but I am not a Harvard grad and there is so much my puny mind can't grasp.
