Physicians are only one key component of the entire health care team.
Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physical Therapists, etc are all vital to the health care system To put this in perspective, there are approximately 16 health care prividers for every one physician. Look to the writings of Fisher. She has done quite a bit of sociological study on nurse practitioners and physicians interactions with patients. Thank you all for your help. I believe that the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care series might be of interest to you.