Invited Commentary
Commentary on "Busting the Medical Trust? Professional Self-Regulation and the Imperatives of Competition"
Abstract
The practice of medicine is changing. In recent years physicians have had to adapt to digital record keeping, practice acquisitions, and new reimbursement modalities. In the midst of that tumult, it is understandable why most physicians were not riveted by the progress of the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. Federal Trade Commission case as it wound through the federal court system. All physicians’ eyes should be on the implications of this US Supreme Court opinion; of all the challenges to medicine in the recent past, this arguably is the most significant. As explained so well in the Kels article in this month’s issue of the Southern Medical Journal,1 the Supreme Court just sent a salvo across the bow of medicine that could alter how the profession is defined and regulated in the United States.This content is limited to qualifying members.
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References
1. Kels KG. Busting the medical trust? Professional self-regulation and the imperatives of competition. South Med J 2016;109:139-141.
2. Massachusetts Medical Society. History. http://www.massmed.org/About/History/#.VolBc_krJD8. Published January 26, 2009. Accessed January 3, 2016.
3. Federal Trade Commission. FTC staff guidance on active supervision of state regulatory boards controlled by market participants. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/competition-policy-guidance/active_supervision_of_state_boards.pdf. Published October 2015. Accessed January 3, 2016.
4. Brock P. Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam. New York, Three Rivers Press; 2008.
5. Conde C. Scope whac-a-mole. Tex Med 2012;108:16-22.
6. Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Where can nurse practitioners work without physician supervision? https://onlinenursing.simmons.edu/nursing-blog/nurse-practitioners-scope-of-practice-map. Published November 5, 2015. Accessed January 3, 2016.
