Legal obstacles to medical communities' full participation in managed care

Strong physician-driven delivery systems are vital to the creation of a quality medical system for the United States. To compete with employers, insurers, hospitals, and the government, physicians must consolidate. Physicians do not generally have the necessary capital, management skills, or desire to manage large organizations, however. In addition, antitrust restrictions, antireferral statutes, insurance regulation, and malpractice liability risks are major legal obstacles that restrain physicians from consolidating. The government needs to recognize the problems that federal and state laws have created for the development of physician-driven delivery systems. The benefit to the medical system by relaxing these laws will outweigh any potential risk of loss to the public.