Medi Cal

Collaborations of physicians and researchers with industry can provide valuable benefits to society, particularly in the translation of basic scientific discoveries to new therapies and products. Recent reports and news stories have, however, documented disturbing examples of relationships and practices that put at risk the integrity of medical research, the objectivity of professional education, the quality of patient care, the soundness of clinical practice guidelines, and the public's trust in medicine. Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice provides a comprehensive look at conflict of interest in medicine. It offers principles to inform the design of policies to identify, limit, and manage conflicts of interest without damaging constructive collaboration with industry. It calls for both short-term actions and long-term commitments by institutions and individuals, including leaders of academic medical centers, professional societies, patient advocacy groups, government agencies, and drug, device, and pharmaceutical companies. Failure of the medical community to take convincing action on conflicts of interest invites additional legislative or regulatory measures that may be overly broad or unduly burdensome. Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice makes several recommendations for strengthening conflict of interest policies and curbing relationships that create risks with little benefit. The book will serve as an invaluable resource for individuals and organizations committed to high ethical standards in all realms of medicine.

Employing a Zellner-type indirect regression technique, and data from the 1972 California Copayment Experiment, the authors attempt to assess the impact of a copayment requirement on utilization of health care resources by the poor. Focus is on three questions regarding effects of an increase in out-of-pocket cost of physician office visits: (1) Will such an increase inhibit demand for ambulatory care? (2) Will it increase or decrease demand for hospitalization? (3) How will it affect total resource cost of health care services, both in and out of hospitals? The results indicate that a $1 copayment requirement apparently decreases demand for physician visits by 8 percent and increases demand for hospital inpatient services by 17 percent. Although the confidence intervals are large, point estimates indicate that copayment increases overall program costs by a statistically insignificant 3 to 8 percent. Thus copayments could be self-defeating as a method of controlling medical costs in a welfare population.