Physician participation in health service management: expectations in United States and experiences in England

Increasing governmental regulation such as called for in PSRO and health planning legislation, pressures to contain rising costs, physician strikes, and other manifestations of change suggest that traditional hospital organization and management patterns ought to be re-examined. Moreover, as the United States moves toward a governmentally financed and regulated system, experiences in Great Britain and other nationalized systems become more pertinent to us. The 1974 major reorganization of the British National Health Service provides for considerable physician participation in management. A similar participative approach to the management of the hospitals in the United States is worthy of consideration as a way to meet increasing challenges of a governmentally financed and controlled health care system.