Physician Evaluation Program. The group has also asked PMS members to evaluate their doctor visits. The results will be entered into a computer, and consumers will be able to request a summary of the evaluations for any physician. The group plans to make public summaries of the evaluations, including average waiting times and the extent to which doctors are encouraging prevention.

Turning On the Lights. Since I got back from my Pennsylvania visit I've been talking and thinking a good deal about the People's Medical Society. It looks very promising. True, it's fairly new, and many of the ideas are still in the shakedown stage. But the people are first-rate and their accomplishments to date have been impressive.

The PMS is clearly for real. The People's Medical Society looks as though it may indeed turn out to be the long-awaited organization that gives consumers a voice in health matters and turns on the lights in many of the formerly dark rooms of the medical care system.

RESOURCES
The People's Medical Society. 14 East Minor St., Emmaus, PA 18049. (215) 967-2136. PMS Information Kit—Free.

List of physiciansin your area who have signed the PMS Code of Practice—Free.

PMS Code of Practice—Free to health professionals who wish to sign it. (Those who do so will be included in a national directory which will be made available to PMS members.)

One-year membership—$l5.00