The Impact of Physician Entrepreneurship on Escalating Health Care Costs

Health care costs in this country are escalating at an alarming rate. Many economists predict this rate is unsustainable due to the long-term financial burden on our citizenry. Moreover, our health care delivery is fragmented and wasteful. United States health care is ranked last among the industrialized nations. Proponents of the U.S. system of health care extoll the virtues of our "free market." This article explores the role of physician entrepreneurship in the perversion of the marketplace of health care delivery. Medicine has become overcommercialized at the expense of patients and taxpayers. The time has come to implement legislative measures to redirect our dysfunctional health care system. This article explores the role of physician entrepreneurship in rising health care costs. Under the wrong circumstances, the invisible hand of the free market can become dysfunctional.

Docs are buying in. Faltering hospitals are finding new life with physician-owners, but they may face challenges getting their facilities up to speed

More physicians are stepping forward to buy their own hospitals, often aging or faltering facilities that need some special attention. Kamlesh Gosai, left, led a group that helped keep open Brownsville (Pa.) General Hospital, saving 250 jobs. Often such doc investors are confident they'll suceed in managing their fellow physicians. But others warn they'll face some tough decisions.

The critical path to medical innovation

In the United States,the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health have noted a significant decrease in the number of innovative products reaching patients, in spite of a rapidly expanding basis of fundamental scientific knowledge. A recent FDA report proposes some solutions to this problem.

American Indian internet cigarette sales: another avenue for selling tobacco products

A study conducted by the University of Minnesota found that cigarettes can be purchased on American Indian-owned Internet sites for about one fifth of the price at grocery stores, making this a more convenient, lower-priced, and appealing method of purchasing cigarettes. Researchers and educators are challenged to address this new marketing ploy and to discover ways to curb rising smoking rates in American Indian communities.

Switzerland's medical technology potential

Favoured for its central European location and sophisticated scientific environment, Switzerland's medical device industry is thriving.