DISAPPEARING DOCTOR
Regarding “The Disappearing Doctor,” by Barry Siegel: Having been a member of the Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic for 19 years, I saw and participated in its involvement and growth in prepaid and PPO programs. The words managed care , medical products and market share were used daily as the organization moved from a caring, quality institution to a competing company in a health-care industry where doctors have become providers and patients pawns who are brokered among insurance companies. Because of this clinic’s embrace of “managed” care, and the subsequent deterioration in the quality of care provided, 25% of its physician members have resigned in the past five years.
J. GLENN BRADLEY, M.D.
Santa Barbara
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