Professionalism reconsidered: physician payment from a health plan perspective

Traditional fee-for-service health insurance rested on the assumption that doctors have primary responsibility for decisions about care. Those who long for unrestrained autonomy in an environment that is characterized by "information overload" and that continually demonstrates lapses in safety and quality fail to grasp the importance of physician and patient decision support systems and the key role that a health plan may play in dealing with these issues. The unbalanced allocation of resources between and among physician specialties is a contributing factor that must be addressed.