The McDonaldization of Medicine

As put forth in The McDonaldization of Society, “the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society,”1 including medicine (Table). While designed to produce a rational system, the 4 basic principles of McDonaldization—efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control—often lead to adverse consequences. Without measures to counter McDonaldization, medicine’s most cherished and defining values including care for the individual and meaningful patient-physician relationships will be threatened.

JAMA Neurology 2015