How to pay doctors: As a Merchant or a Guardian?

The book Systems of Survival (review) describes two moral structures: commerce and guardianship.  Jane Jacobs describes the ethics of Commerce as a moral syndrome equal, antagonistic, and complementary to the ethics of politics, or Guardianship.  Commerce provides the economic engine and the ethical framework for trade, technological advance, and individual rights that combine to make governments…

Cochrane Review: The effect of capitation, fee-for-service (FFS) and mixed payment systems on primary care physician behavior

Primary care physicians can be compensated in a number of ways. The most popular are capitation, fee-for-service, salary, or some mixture of the three. But how does the physician compensation method affect care levels? This is the question Gosden et al. (2000) try to answer in their Cochrane review. The authors search the literature for…