Introduction

The World Health Organization reports that the United States has the 37^th best health care system in the world (1). America’s health care system is fraught with problems and its patient satisfaction is rated among the worst in the world. Even though America’s health care system is envied by the world, it ranks at the bottom of many health care indicators. In the developed world, the United States is at the bottom of the list for infant mortality and life expectancy.  

Health care is not the same as it was fifty years ago. Many things have improved over the last fifty years, but the personal touch of medicine has been lost in the process. Medical science has made tremendous advances in the treatment of heart disease, cancer, infectious disease and diabetes just to name a few – but these advances have come at a cost.