Physician compensation, past and present

doi:10.1136/bmjusa.03050004

BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmjusa.03050004, (Published 1 June 2003)

Filler

Physician compensation, past and present

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

From BMJ USA 2003;May:276

Since earliest times, wise men have experimented with variousmethods of compensating physicians. Fee for service is the oldestdocumented model. The Code of Hammurabi (1792 – 1750 BC) specified physicians' fees: "If a doctor has healed a freeman'sbone or has restored diseased flesh,... the patient shall givethe doctor five shekels of silver." The Mesopotamian rulersset the amount to be paid for each procedure, just as the Canadian government does today.

In 2000 BC, Egyptian physicians were salaried, employed by thearmy or the temple. They would not charge for services, onlyfor the medication they dispensed. Their contracts resemblethose of contemporary military and industrial-based physiciansin the United States.

Ancient Chinese physicians were members of the upper class andwere philanthropists, receiving no pay. Some worked on a retainer,serving special interest groups such as the court or wealthyfamilies, foreshadowing . . . [Full text of this article]

Renate G Justin

Fort Collins, Colorado rjustin@greyrock.org