ABSTRACT
Ideally, the delivery of medical care resources should be shaped by standards both of economic efficiency and of commitment to individual patient needs. In reality, however, these two principles are having a disrupting influence on the health profession. Although physicians, abiding by the Hippocratic oath, are bound to provide that level of professional assistance that will help improve the conditions of their patients, the physician—as the initial gatekeeper to the healthcare delivery system—must also try to maximize the efficiency of each healthcare resource or, in other words, obtain the greatest value from finite resources. 1 Opportunity costs are minimized by obtaining from healthcare dollars as much value as possible. 2
