Schools of medicine have largely remained timid about the introduction of courses on the business of medicine or any topics related to issues of medical economics. I graduated medical school in 1994, right around the time I first heard the term “HMO”. Physicians were set free after graduating from undergraduate education to fend for themselves and the postgraduate training programs which had no guarantee of preparing those new doctors for anything remotely resembling the financial aspects of the field which would define them for the rest of their professional lives. That’s slowly changing, however. You can credit the national debate on health reform for that.

[E]scalating costs and the national debate over the health care overhaul are forcing medical schools and residency programs to grapple with teaching about the financial side of their profession. Accrediting organizations now require such teaching, and students and residents recognize that they need to understand finances as well as blood tests.

Although physician employees may not have direct control over the day-to-day costs of providing care, there is nothing negative about keeping them in the dark about it until after formal training. They’ve gotta learn sometime. | LINK

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