Clinical Practice and Economics

Abstract

This most interesting and stimulating book is edited by C. I. Phillips, who is professor of ophthalmology at the University of Edinburgh, and by J. N. Wolfe, professor of economics at the same institute. Most of the contributors are from the United Kingdom, and therefore, most of the problems relate to medicine as it is practiced in Great Britain under the control of the National Health Service (NHS). Some of the chapters deal with problems applicable to medicine all over the world, such as decision making in diagnosis, voluntary private audits, and automation in medicine. Of special interest is the first chapter on randomized clinical trial, written by Fred Ederer from the National Eye Institute. A good number of the contributions are of little concern to the American physician—at least for the present. Questions concerning how the cost of drugs that are prescribed under the NHS can be kept down,