Considering the effects of financial incentives and professional ethics on \u27appropriate\u27 medical care.

This manuscript presents a model of an \u27ethical\u27 physician\u27s allocation of time and income between work and leisure activities for various remuneration types and income levels. The physician is \u27ethical\u27 because, ceteris paribus, he prefers to provide that amount of medical care which he believes to be in the patient\u27s best interests. Remuneration systems include fixed, time-based and output-based incomes. Only output-based income provides the physician with incentives which may (if the physician density and medical care price are sufficiently high) generate more-than-\u27appropriate\u27 care per patient. Fixed and time-based incomes necessarily lead the physician to provide less-than-\u27appropriate\u27 care