The Medical Professionalism Blog

This week’s Recommended Reading includes articles on the importance of cultivating cost-consciousness among residents and practicing physicians:

• In Cents and Sensitivity — Teaching Physicians to Think about Costs, Lisa Rosenbaum and Daniela Lamas argue, “Whether it’s lack of time, fear of  ‘missing something,’ or simple ignorance, the incentives to do more often overwhelm our impulse to use resources wisely.”

• The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians announced the development of a high-value, cost-conscious care curriculum for residents.

• The authors of the JAMA Viewpoint, Incentives in Health: Different Prescriptions for Physicians and Patients, contend that, “attempts to address issues of overuse of low-value services should focus mainly on physicians rather than patients,” and that physician incentives to curb overuse should target intrinsic motivators such as “those inherent in the desire to conform to professional values.”