How do self-referrals pose a conflict of interest for physicians?

SELF-REFERRALS AND THE PHYSICIAN

Physicians have long been considered to be the trained medical professionals that patients consult for an illness that they experience knowing that the knowledge the physician carries will be sufficient in healing their ailments . The medical practice is thus considered as a very noble position since these professionals have undergone intense training for several years and are duly licensed to treat patients . A patient is thus considered as any individual that consults a physician in to receive healthcare and this individual acknowledges that the attending physician will

be responsible for the outcome of the treatment that the patient receives . For decades we have noticed that the healthcare system has resulted in concrete s of good doctor-patient relationships wherein the patient will voluntary and sincerely follow any suggestions and even s that his physician will advise him to perform because the patient knows that the prime concern of the physician is to treat and ultimately to heal the patient of his illness . Parallel to such relationship between patient and physician is the payment that is given by the patient to the physician , as a token for the services rendered in the specific medical treatment that was provided to the patient . This mutual relationship has been accepted as the norm and is technically considered a legal transaction in the medical field

However , as the medical field has grown over the last few decades physicians have observed that they also have the opportunity to setup a business that could be considered as a spin-off of their medical clinic For example , a physician who frequently requires a patient to undergo radiological examinations or X-rays would thus consider one day that it would be good to have his own X-ray clinic next door so that his patients that would need such diagnostic test would just walk a few steps towards the X-ray clinic and complete that requirements he has assigned to his patients . In addition , the construction of an X-ray clinic would also provide additional income to the physician , instead of having his patients pay some other clinic for the radiological examinations he suggested . Thus , physicians are now dealing with two fields , medicine and business , which is influenced by the demand for more facilities that would fulfill the medical procedures that are needed , as well as the interest of the physician to acquire more income that what he already receives . Consequently , he would instruct his patients to proceed to the X-ray clinic that he owns in to have their X-rays done , instead of giving the patient a free choice to go to any other X-ray clinic in town . Such suggestion that is given to the patient to proceed to a particular clinic which is run by the same physician is considered as self-referral (Giordano , 2007 . This recent medical market has received several ethical concerns because it may affect the rules of the medical field that physician should follow specific virtues wherein monetary return should never be an issue of...