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Bluffing, puffing and spinning in managed-care organizations
1Department of Philosophy and Religion, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy
|March 25, 2000
Summary
Deceptive practices like bluffing and spinning are common in managed care medicine, potentially leading patients to withhold information, risking their health. Unlike business, healthcare warrants truth-telling, making patient deception unethical and detrimental.
Area of Science:
- Medical Ethics
- Health Services Research
- Communication in Healthcare
Background:
- Corporate deceptive practices (bluffing, puffing, spinning) may infiltrate the doctor-patient relationship.
- Managed care organizations (MCOs) and physicians utilize these deceptive tactics.
- This creates an environment where patients may also resort to deception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the prevalence and ethical implications of deceptive practices in managed care.
- To analyze the doctor-patient relationship within the context of managed care medicine.
- To apply the warranty theory of truth to medical truth-telling.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis using the warranty theory of truth.
- Examination of deceptive mechanisms in corporate and medical contexts.
- Ethical argument regarding truth-telling in healthcare.
Main Results:
- Managed care organizations and physicians engage in puffing and spinning.
- This behavior encourages deceptive mechanisms among patients.
- Patient deception poses significant health risks.
Conclusions:
- Bluffing is ethically permissible in business due to agreed-upon norms, but not in medicine.
- Physicians and MCOs warrant truth-telling, making patient deception unethical.
- Truth-telling is crucial for maintaining the quality of medical care.