Private and Competitive Regulation of Medicine

The idea is laid out by Ronen Avraham in The Economists' Voice

A market of guidelines produced by private firms could create a gold standard for patient care. The firms would compete to sell their guidelines to doctors and hospitals and in turn offer their clients a safe harbor from medical malpractice lawsuits, provided that the guidelines are followed. The private firms, unlike current organizations that create guidelines, would be held liable for promulgating sub-optimal guidelines. They would strive not only to reduce costs in order to sell their guidelines, but also to maximize patient safety to avoid liability. The private firms would have a strong interest in continually funding objective scientific research to create evidence-based medicine in order to achieve their twin goals of cost savings and patient safety. Granting immunity to doctors who follow such guidelines would go a long way toward meeting the nation’s goals of minimizing healthcare costs while maximizing patient safety.

It is a meaty 5 pages, so have your coffee before reading.