Quality improvement in the era of health reform

More and more scrutiny is certain for the health care field. The intense interest in medical quality management that has been a factor in the field for many years is certain to increase under any reform that the system undergoes. This is a unique opportunity for physician executives to play a leading role in the future course of health care delivery. The alternative of their involvement will be almost total control of the issue by regulators.     

The ethicist

The 1990s seem drawn for major changes in the U.S. health care delivery system. After a quarter century of piecemeal changes to compensate for the cost dislocations caused by passage of the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, legislators, moved by a high level of demand from buyers, third-party payers, and consumers, are at last positioned for some structural revamping. Nothing is certain, however, as evidenced by the shifting deadline for introduction of the current Administration's approach to solutions. In this article, the author uses a fictionalized scenario to imagine the status of our health care system in the year 2000. As in 1990, much will remain to be done, even if much will have been accomplished.