Effects of market reforms on doctors and their patients

The outcome of the competitive revolution in health care will depend critically on how it affects physicians' behavior and their interaction with patients. From the standpoint of physicians, competition often seems mediated by three influences affecting their day-to-day practice environment: the organizational phenomenon, the customer phenomenon, and the commodification phenomenon. A careful examination of these three phenomena offers reasons to believe that both the supporters and detractors of competition may be partially correct. Competitive markets may work extraordinarily well for some consumers and very poorly for others. The competitive restructuring of our health care system will accentuate the divisions and inequalities that existed in our society before the transition to a market-based health care system.