Work load and the general practitioner.

The complicated interaction between government, academic medical centers, health care payers, and burgeoning market forces has tested the leadership skills of a generation of academicians with little formal training in economics. The emergence of a new breed of physician investigator with solid business credentials has therefore proved attractive to many segments of the medical community. John M. Eisenberg received his MD from Washington University in 1972, his MBA from the Wharton School in 1976, and shortly thereafter headed the division of general internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to championing the role of the generalist in health care delivery, Eisenberg has also played a major part in the reformation of Medicare reimbursement. He has been a commissioner on the Congressional Physician Payment Review Commission since 1986, serving as chairman since 1993. After assuming the chairmanship of the department of medicine at Georgetown University in 1992, Eisenberg served as an advisor to the Clinton administration during its efforts towards national health care reform. Interviewed in his office in Georgetown, Eisenberg reflected on the economic forces twisting post-graduate medical education, the role of non-physician providers in future health care delivery, and the evolving relationship between specialists and generalists.

Economics, Medical↗