It should have been an invigorating story for free-marketers.

Saturday’s New York Times describes how competition from health care clinics in retailers such as Wal-Mart and CVS is pushing traditional doctor offices to be more responsive to customer needs:

Professional societies for family doctors and internists are urging their members to break with tradition by making it easier to schedule appointments — or even making appointments unnecessary in the case of walk-in patients who need immediate attention.

“It’s a big trend,” said Amanda Denning, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Family Physicians, which has about 94,000 members.

The academy is spending $8 million on consultants who visit doctors nationwide to suggest improvements in patient care. The advice is meant to “keep them from going to an in-store clinic,” Ms. Denning said, while also benefiting doctors by making office procedures more efficient.

Speedier appointments for patients who need immediate attention, more efficient office operations, and (the article later states) increased doctor office revenues as more (satisfied) patients are treated. American health care would certainly benefit from such a shot-in-the-arm.

So, naturally, the American Medical Association wants to perform a competition-ectomy. The Times goes on to report:

At its annual meeting this month, the American Medical Association called on the clinics to accept a list of principles that would limit their scope to simple services and ensure that a physician oversees the operations.

“Patients want quick and easy access to health care services, but they shouldn’t have to worry about the safety and quality of care provided in these clinics,” said Dr. Rebecca J. Patchin, an A.M.A. board member.

Once again, the AMA is making sure health care providers will do no harm … to AMA members’ bottom lines.