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The Costs of Denying Scarcity
Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:593-596.
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INTRODUCTION
Scarcity is increasingly common in health care, yet many physicians may be reluctant to acknowledge the ways that limited health care resources influence their decisions. Reasons for this denial include that physicians are unaccustomed to thinking in terms of scarcity, uncomfortable with the role that limited resources play in poor outcomes, and hesitant to acknowledge the influence of financial incentives and restrictions on their practice. However, the denial of scarcity serves as a barrier to containing costs, alleviating avoidable scarcity, limiting the financial burden of health care on patients, and developing fair allocation systems.
Almost 2 decades ago, Aaron and Schwartz1 published The Painful Prescription: Rationing Hospital Care, in which they examined the dramatic differences in health care expenditures between the United States and Great Britain. Their examination highlighted the role of rationing within the British system and explored the difficult choices that must be made when trying to . . . [Full Text of this Article]
EXAMPLES
Patient Placement on Organ Waiting Lists Shortages of IVIg Fiscal Scarcity in Primary Care
WHY THE DENIAL?
THE COSTS OF DENYING SCARCITY
Escalating Health Care Costs Exacerbating Avoidable Scarcity Increasing Patients' Financial Burden Preventing the Development of Fair Allocation Systems
CONCLUSIONS
G. Caleb Alexander, MD
Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program
University of Chicago
5841 S Maryland, MC 2007
Chicago, IL 60637
(e-mail: galexand@uchicago.edu)
Rachel M. Werner, MD
Philadelphia, Pa
Peter A. Ubel, MD
Ann Arbor, Mich
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
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Hurst et al.
J. Med. Ethics 2008;34:241-246.
ABSTRACT
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