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Coping with change: physicians in prepaid practice
Author(s) -
Budrys Grace
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.ep10490547
Subject(s) - gatekeeping , specialty , coping (psychology) , psychology , social psychology , public relations , political science , clinical psychology , psychiatry , law
This paper examines the efforts of physicians to cope with changing role expectations particularly the integration of gatekeeping expectations. The subjects of the study are US physicians who are members of a prepaid practice group that is affiliated with a Health Maintenance Organisation. The respondents say that they are committed to gatekeeping; however, they complain about the frustrations associated with this function. They differ in the extent to which they complain. The paper focuses on factors which account for this variation. Two factors are discussed in detail ‐ specialty differences and structural characteristics associated with the office site. The discussion begins with a review of the general sociological literature which employs the gatekeeping concept.