Description
Trade Review"Schafer's book beautifully explicates the geography of private medical practice in Philadelphia, telling us about the evolution of medicine in the fast-changing city and lending perspective on the conditions that shape the business of medicine in America today." -- Christopher Crenner * Robert Hudson and Ralph Major Chair, History of Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine *
"James Schafer offers a compelling study of some of the roots of today’s health-care woes. By examining how individual rank-and-file Philadelphia physicians practiced medicine in the early 20th century, Schafer reminds us that medicine was an economic activity, and sometimes a struggle to make ends meet. The choices those doctors made about where to practice in a changing urban geography and whether to specialize had important consequences for the shape of American health care. This rich social and economic history re-frames our understanding of a crucial period in American medicine." -- Mary E. Fissell * department of the history of medicine, Johns Hopkins University *
"In
The Business of Private Medical Practice James A. Schafer Jr. examines the organization of health care delivery in Philadelphia during the early twentieth century. Schafer astutely frames it and performs a service for health care scholars by underscoring the importance of markets and exhibiting the applicability of the urban historian’s tools." * Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsList of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One. 1900-1920
1. The Primacy of Private Practice
2. The Doctor as Business Owner
3. Downtown Specialists and Neighborhood GPs
Part Two. 1920-1940
4. New Career Paths, New Business Methods
5. From Center City to Suburb
Conclusion
Appendix: Notes on Sources and Methods
Notes
Index
