Complaints about bureaucracy in health care? Time for a proactive medical profession [Klagen over bureaucratie in de zorg? Tijd voor een proactieve medische professie.]

Health care is in profound transition, its organization changing from being service-oriented to outcomes-oriented. Doctors are complaining of too much bureaucracy. However, the increasing complexity of healthcare demands rationalization, standardization and optimization of processes. At the same time, the practice of medicine is increasingly politicized. If doctors are the key to healthcare reform, how then are they to be motivated? It is imperative that they become more proactive and engage in leadership. They are the first to ensure that the main goals of medicine remain evidence-based prevention and cure of disease. Passivity will create opportunity for bureaucracy.