Not What the Doctor Ordered

This twenty-fifth anniversary edition completely updates the powerful insights and policy recommendations of Not What the Doctor Ordered, first published in 1993 by renowned healthcare futurist and medical economist the author. It presents specific solutions to serious problems of cost, quality, access, and outcomes by allowing all Americans to purchase services directly from caregivers who provide an expanding array of medical services at least as well as physicians—at lower cost. Focusing on new realities of the twenty-first century, the author shows not only why giving consumers the right to choose advanced practitioners is the top priority for improving our overpriced, underperforming medical care delivery system, but also how to make the necessary changes. As he clearly and concisely explains from medical and economic perspectives, the key is eliminating physicians' monopoly powers over advanced practice nurses, clinical pharmacists, physical therapists, clinical psychologists, and other advanced practice (AP) health professionals who now rival physicians in scientific knowledge and caregiving skills within well-defined scopes of practice regulated by state governments.