Explain the potential conflict of interest that arises when doctors own the hospitals in which they work. The following news article mayhelp.

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The executive who became the most visible symbol of profit ending Columbia's practice of selling ownership stakes in its driven medical care stepped down yesterday as the top officer hospitals to its doctors. That has been a critical piece of the of the Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation amid a crimi- strategy that helped propel Columbia's growth but led to great nal investigation of whether the company's pursuit of profits legal and ethical criticism that the company was compromis- has stretched beyond the legal limits.Hel wll be replaced ing the medical independence of its doctors. by Thomas F Frist r, a surgeon by training, who has made his career in the hospital business.Dr. Frist said he was Source: The New York Times, July 26, 1997.