A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure

A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure: "As a lead-in to Grand Rounds XXII Dr. Wilde puts forth a post describing the crises facing the current health care system, and some solutions:Health Care Problems and Solutions. Dr. Wilde discusses problems with health insurance, liability, drug approval, and the topic Mr. McBride took me to task for: board certification and physician licensure:
Licensing and monopoly privilege have harmed the growth of medicine as a field, lowered the quality of care patients receive, and degraded the working environment for many health care professionals. The primary economic effect of licensing is to artificially limit the supply of a good. There are less physicians practicing medicine than would be without licensing. Though such measures are usually justified for safety reasons, there is no reason licensing cannot be supplied privately as it is in other fields. Greater openness would allow different approaches to medical care to compete with each other, result in a more adequate supply of house staff, and produce better overall patient care."