The preservation of good medicine is dependent on information

BASIS FOR THE ARGUMENT. Virtually all physicians feel a growing loss of control in their private practices and a sense of disillusionment with today's medicine. In the good ole days of modern medicine, medicine was a profession and a physician had a special bond with his patient and his community. In a constructive sense, a physician had power which was used to practice good medicine and provided part of the basis for a satisfying practice. As modern medicine evolved, the complexity of the science and the cost of technology forced new, non-physician players into the process of providing patient care. Over time, costs seemed to become the predominant theme and medicine became a business. One fact is certain, that as a result of this process, physicians lost power. Less provable, but widely believed, is that patient care suffered. There is also a growing concern that clinical outcomes are less than optimal and that health care services are more costly than they need to be because of wide variations in the diagnostic and treatment processes.