The Medical Police and rules and regulations of the Boston Medical Association : with a catalogue of the officers and members.

  • Boston Medical Library.
Date:
1864
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Medical Police and rules and regulations of the Boston Medical Association : with a catalogue of the officers and members. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    It is at this point that we may consider what is for the interest of the public,—what is for the interest of the sick, who look to the physician or surgeon for their cure. Which would be best, that the medical men should contend who would do the work for the lowest fees, or that they place their claims on their education, or their devotion to their profession, and on whatever goes to make up the qualifica- tions for the proper management of the sick,—in short, on their professional skill and merit ? It is true that profes- sional skill and merit are not always duly recognized and rewarded: the battle is not always to the strong. But, in general,'the strong will ultimately succeed in the contest; and it is better for the community that every medical man should rely on his qualifications to be truly useful, than that he should be compelled to struggle with liis neighbor and brother as to which would serve the sick at the lowest rate. From this view of the subject, we conclude that the es- tablishment of a uniform fee-table among physicians and surgeons living in the same city, or in a near vicinity, is justifiable and proper. In this country it is believed that the fees are more or less definitely adjusted by the members of the Faculty in the larger towns and cities. In Boston a fee-table was es- tablished probably more than a century ago. We know that there was one about the year 1788, the period of the greatest depression after the Revolution. The fee for a visit was four shillings, or sixty-seven cents ; and other fees were in proportion. About ten years later, there was an advance on the fees of about fifty per cent; that for a visit being a dollar.- In 1808, the expenses of living, as well as the wealth of the town, had greatly increased; and the charge for a visit was raised to a dollar and a half, with additions, more or less, for other services. Since that time, there have been occasional alterations; but there has not been any general change in the tariff for medical services. In the