Bots can't resolve conflict of interest
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
President and CEO, Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, another lousy golfer, terrible cook, friction fixer
If you practice medicine, you will have to resolve potential conflicts of interest.
Conflict of interest ? describes a situation in which a person is or appears to be at risk of acting in a biased way because of personal interests.
Conflict of interest can occur in many different settings; this article focuses on conflicts of interest in medicine that affect doctors in particular.
Examples include fee for service medicine, research funding. scientific publication and review misconduct, industry collaboration, accepting gifts or things of value from vendors, and physician entrepreneurial endeavors.
These conflicts cannot be eliminated. They can only be managed, mitigated, and reported and depend on doctors and scientists to do the right thing. Bots can help identify affiliations or activities that could represent a potential conflict. Humans must decide whether there is a real conflict.
Why is it so hard to do the right thing?
1. People are inherently flawed, "broken branches" and ignore their foibles
2. The world is getting more complicated with intertwined conflicts of interest that often fall in the grey zone
3. Society has become more permissive
4. People think they can get away with it. They are often right, particularly when you have power, influence, or money.
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5. Rules of civility have become more lax
6. A decline in self-disciplinary skills and delayed gratification.?More and more people choosing the one marshmellow over two later on.
7. A media and communications culture that showcases the Big Me over the Little Me.
8. Pressure from investors and shareholders at the expense of patients because the stakes are getting bigger.
9. A culture of entrepreneurship that fosters an ethos of win at all costs, short term thinking and creating shareholder value at the expense of employees.
10. The differences between the ethics of business and the ethics of medicine.
11. Faulty hiring practices.?People perceive liars to be more successful ?when it comes to certain high-pressure sales professions, such as investment banking and advertising. Findings explain why managers are more likely to hire deceptive people, believing they are more competent for high-pressure sales roles.
We all have taken multiple choice tests where one of the answers is, "true-true but unrelated". Doctors take the test every day and they get to grade their own answers. That's quite a conflict of interest that ChatGPT won't resolve, even if you talk to it instead of typing your question.
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack