Americans are desperate for ways to reduce the costs of health care and improve access to care. At the same time, physicians are frustrated with the status quo. After a 30-year campaign by the media to disparage physicians with negative stories about them; reductions in reimbursement by public and private payers alike; and the intrusion of managed care and increases in costs, paperwork, and overhead, many physicians literally are going out of business and shutting their offices.
In addition to these pressures, American medicine once again faces the recurring challenge of "behind-the-counter" (BTC) "prescribing" by pharmacists.
In recent hearings, the Food and Drug ...