It is extremely discouraging to read in your letters that the AAOMS suggests working with managed care. Talk about getting in bed with the enemy.
What the AAOMS Board stated is true. Yes, the reality is that managed care is not going to go away and, in fact, it will continue at an increasing pace to consolidate its stranglehold on our profession. However, the other reality is that managed care forces dentists into unethical and compromised treatment. They shouldn`t, but they do, not because they want to (usually) or they have to (or don`t know any better) and most of the time they hate it.
I doubt there are many dentists who haven`t compromised themselves by doing what some insurance clerk (via predetermination) chose for the patient rather than what they know is best for the patient. And that`s with the good insurance. Managed care just makes that demeaning process inevitable.
The good news is that there is a way to practice high-quality, ethical dentistry outside the insurance model we have come to depend on. I submit, it is the only way.
Charles F. Gallagher, DMD
Albuquerque, NM
