Law Commons^™

Playing Doctor: Corporate Medical Practice And Medical Malpractice, E. Haavi Morreim

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Although health plans once existed mainly to ensure that patients could pay for care, in recent years managed care organizations (MCOs) have attempted to limit expenditures by exercising significant influence over the kinds and levels of care provided. Some commentators argue that such influence constitutes the practice of medicine, and should subject MCOs to the same medical malpractice torts traditionally brought against physicians. Others hold that MCOs engage only in contract interpretation, and do not literally practice medicine.

This Article begins by arguing that traditional common law doctrines governing corporate practice of medicine do not precisely apply to the current …