Physician Ownership for the Virtuous Practice of Medicine

Abstract

The shift from physicians as owners or shareholders of practices to being employees of corporations is now a widespread trend with over 50% of physicians now considered employees. If continued, this trend will have profound effects on the medical profession and on physicians’ personal lifestyles and sense of agency. However, ownership is not a morally neutral consideration but is important for safeguarding the traditions of virtue in the medical profession. Virtue develops within localized communities of practice and thrives in settings that embody principles such as solidarity, subsidiarity, and participation found in Catholic social teaching. Ownership increases physicians’ investment in moral communities where they practice, affording physicians greater agency to benefit these communities according to their best judgment. This ownership can vary by type of organization and degree of shareholding. Because moral communities are the settings in which physicians form virtue, and ownership increases physicians’ commitment and investment in communities, I make a principled argument that physicians who value developing virtue should consider having ownership of their practices when planning their careers. Ownership will be an important aspect of any medical ethics based on virtue rather than on principlism.