Access, Quality, and Cost Control in Emergency Medicine: Can We Have All Three?, , : A Residentʹs Perspective on the Future of Emergency Medicine

The triad of access, quality, and cost provides a useful framework for the discussion of health care reform. A quote from a recent review of the Oregon Health Plan illustrates the conflict between these three factors very well. “The administrators of the plan are realistic people; they once placed a sign on the wall: ‘Cost, access, quality—pick any two.ʹ” [Asplin BR: Access, quality, and cost control in emergency medicine: Can we have all three? A residentʹs perspective on the future of emergency medicine. Ann Emerg Med December 1997;30:779-781.]