Session: Ethical Medical Practice and Managed Care: An Oxymoron?

	23rd Annual Meeting February 7-10, 2007 New Orleans, LA
Annual Meeting Highlights Supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc. © 2006 American Academy of Pain Medicine


Friday, February 9, 2007: 3:45 PM-5:00 PM
Ethical Medical Practice and Managed Care: An Oxymoron?
At a time when Pain Medicine physicians are establishing professional rules of conduct in the specialty, managed care organizations’ (MCO) policies have introduced unique impediments to the patient/physician relationship. Physicians are at the mercy of an extraordinarily complex bureaucratic system, which often dictates the best diagnosis and therapeutic plans for patients. Because these recommendations are primarily driven by costs and growing profits for MCOs, the physician’s traditional, ethical role as the patient’s best advocate has been significantly impaired. Furthermore, the physician’s empathy with the patient, so essential in Pain Medicine, is increasingly difficult to achieve within the strictures imposed by managed care. Concrete examples of such conflictual situations will be provided and possible remedies proposed.

Submitter:	Michel Dubois
Moderator:	Michel Dubois
3:45 PM		Introduction and Case Studies Michel Dubois, MD
4:00 PM		The Influence of Managed Care on the Ethical Practice of Medicine Emily Friedman
4:25 PM		Is Empathy with Patients Still Possible in the Managed Care Environment? John Banja, PhD
4:50 PM		Question and Answer Session