The Case for Ethical Efficiency: A System That Has Run Out of Time

The American health care system increasingly conflates physician "productivity" with true clinical efficiency. In reality, inordinate time pressure on physicians compromises quality of care, decreases patient satisfaction, increases clinician burnout, and costs the health care system a great deal in the long term even if it is financially expedient in the short term. Inadequate time to deliver care thereby conflicts with the core principles of biomedical ethics, including autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. We propose that the health care system adjust its focus to recognize the nonmonetary value of physician time while still realizing the need to deploy resources as effectively as possible, a concept we describe as "ethical efficiency."