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Article: Clinical practice guidelines and medical malpractice: Guidelines gaining credibility in courtrooms, may eliminate expert testimony. (Doctors, Lawyers and Lawsuits).(preventing defensive medicine)(Statistical Data Included)
- Article from:
- Physician Executive
- Article date:
- March 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 American College of Physician Executives. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN 1787, 11 YEARS after penning the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "without health there is no happiness. An attention to health, then, should take the place of every other object." (1)
Jefferson's words ring even more true today. As a society, Americans attend to health in ever increasing amounts. Health care spending accounts for nearly 15 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.
Multiple factors account for this:
* Technological innovation
* Physician-induced demand
* Insurance-generated consumer price insensitivity