The Physician and Industry

Many employers are interested in helping their employees improve and maintain health through a program of preventive medicine designed to supplement health services which already exist in the community. The objectives of such a health program can be attained only through team work between physicians, both within and outside industry. Such specific objectives as the development of measures for the maintenance and improvement of health and the prevention of disease; the provision of readily available diagnostic, treatment and counselling services; the rehabilitation of disabled employees; and the effective administration of sick-benefit plans require the closest communication and co-operation among the occupational health service, the private physician, and other health and welfare agencies. Only by such liaison can the maximum benefits of both preventive and curative medicine be extended to the employee—in his best interest as well as that of the community and the employer.     

The Physician Profile System

The Physician Profile System is currently the most efficient and equitable mechanism of administering the payment to physicians under the usual and customary charge programs. Local peer review must be closely linked with the system to provide the assurance of reasonableness of charges, to resolve differences of opinion, and to scrutinize the utilization of health care resources.In actual practice, the Profile System permits for gradually increasing charges, both for the individual physician and for the medical community. It is equally capable of giving effect to lowered charges which sometimes follow technologic improvements.Usual and customary programs have not proved to be inflationary, and have developed conservative trend patterns which permit realistic prediction of future program costs. Experience has shown that physicians have not abused the usual and customary charge programs. Administrative and peer review devices provide an impressive array of checks and safeguards against abuses in the utilization of benefits and in the payment of physicians'' charges.