Cape Fear Endocrinology Summary

Chapter 13 in Tong discusses the Cape Fear Endocrinology and Metabolic Associates who are the only endocrine specialist in their county. For reasons of cost-control, they do not accept either Medicaid patients. Because of this policy, people in this county do not have access to specialists for treatment of their chronic diseases (for example, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and gout). (Tong p. 326)

Not surprisingly, low reimbursement rates are one of the reasons for this. Medicaid pays less of what Medicare would pay, nationally, for outpatient physician services. The payment rate varies from state to state, of course. Reimbursement rates are not the only issue when it comes to Medicaid patients. Extended waiting times to receive reimbursement from their state Medicaid programs and increasingly complex paperwork add to the list of physician complaints.

Chronic endocrine diseases can be quite dangerous, and regardless of the type of insurance a patient has, they deserve to have access to medical care. Citizens among us who are less fortunate than we are should have access to the same medical care.

The Cape Fears policy is unacceptable with regards to the virtue ethics theory, which explains the highest good for humans. According to the virtue ethics theory, a physician needs to practice professional codes and traits that are virtues. The act of denying services to Medicaid patients is against the principles of medical ethics, which outlines the standards of conducts that define the appropriate behaviors of the physician, the relevant character traits or virtues for a