Medical Ethics and Economics in Health CareGavin H. Mooney, Alistair McGuire For some time we have been attempting to apply the concepts and techniques of economic analysis to health care. For various reasons such application is difficult. 'Health care' seems often to be rather different from other goods and services. Certainly the markets in which it is provided tend not to be like the markets for most other commodities. The normal economic concepts of supply and demand seem to operate rather differently in health care. Indeed the demands of consumers (patients) play very much a secondary role and the supply side, especially in the shape of the medical doctor, tends to dominate. In such circumstances it is more than ever important to protect the patient through codes of medical ethics. Yet, there appear to be some tensions between the ethics of medicine and the principles of economics. To try to cast light on these possible tensions and indeed to explore more generally some of the ethical issues in resource allocation in health care we organized, together with Dutch colleagues a small international and interdisciplinary workshop at Lisse in The Netherlands in September 1986. The papers in this volume are slightly revised versions of those presented at that meeting. |
Contents
a medical | 23 |
Traditional medical ethics and economics in health | 40 |
3 | 73 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown
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acceptable agency relationship argued aspects assessment autonomy behaviour benefit choice clinical decision concept concern conflict consequences considered consumer consumer sovereignty context Cost-benefit analysis costs deontology diagnostic discussion disease doctor-patient relationship duty efficiency equity ethical codes ethics and economics example expert systems health care ethics health care sector health care system health economics health economists Health Service health status Hippocrates hospital human important individual patient individualistic involved issues Journal of Medicine judgements justify knowledge Leenen legislation maximizing medical conduct medical doctor medical ethics medical practice medical profession Mooney and McGuire moral principles moral reasoning National Health Service nature norms obligations opportunity cost outcome Oxford oxytetracycline particular philosophy physicians possible potential practitioners problems process utility profes property rights holdings rational resource allocation responsibility risk bearing role social society Thomasma tion traditional treatment University of Aberdeen University Press utilitarian utility function