Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Managed Care Programs”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Characteristics of private-sector managed care for mental health and substance abuse treatment.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined diversity during the late 1980s in managed care programs for mental health, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse to identify ways in which research can generate more meaningful data on the effectiveness of utilization review programs. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with representatives of utilization review programs for employee health insurance plans in 31 firms that employed 2.1 million people in 1990. Questions addressed qualifications of personnel, clinical criteria to authorize care, integration with employee assistance plans, penalties for not complying with utilization review procedures, outpatient review, and carve out of mental health and substance abuse review. RESULTS: Large variations in utilization review programs were found. Programs employed a range of review personnel and used a variety of clinical criteria to authorize care. More than two-thirds did not carve out mental health and substance abuse review from medical-surgical review. Some firms' employee assistance plans were integrated with utilization review programs, while others remained unintegrated. Penalties for not following program procedures varied widely, as did review of outpatient services. CONCLUSIONS: Because of trends toward even more diversity in utilization review programs in the 1990s, research that identifies the specific features of managed care programs that hold most promise for controlling costs while maintaining quality of care will increasingly be needed.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed2003

Do nonprofit HMOs eliminate racial disparities in cardiac care?

African-Americans have far less access to treatment for heart disease than similar white Americans. In this article, we explore the sector difference theory hypothesis that treatment provided by a nonprofit Medicaid managed care plan can reduce or even eliminate the race gap. Specifically, we compare the treatment offered to patients in for-profit Medicaid managed care programs to the treatment offered to similar patients in nonprofit Medicaid managed care programs. Data are from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and cover all patients discharged from hospitals in Maryland during calendar year 1998 with principal diagnoses indicating diseases of the circulatory system (ICD-9-CM codes 390 through 459) or chest pain (ICD-9-CM codes 786.50 through 786.52 and code 786.59). African-Americans were significantly less likely to receive the three treatments of interest, even after controlling for principal diagnosis, blood pressure, co-morbidities, and age. In regard to African-American access to treatment, there were no significant differences between the sectors.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2001

Public sector managed care for substance abuse treatment: opportunities for health services research.

Observations of reduced utilization of alcohol and drug abuse treatment following the introduction of managed behavioral health care suggest that substance abuse services may be especially responsive to managed care restrictions and limits. In publicly funded treatment systems, patient attributes, system and provider characteristics, and financing mechanisms may heighten susceptibility to unintended effects. The State Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment Managed Care Evaluation Program reviewed state managed care programs for publicly funded alcohol and drug treatment services and is evaluating programs in Arizona, Iowa, Maryland, and Nebraska. The article describes initiatives and outlines evaluation activities. It discusses the opportunities and challenges of assessing public managed care plans.

Arizona↗
PubMed1998

Commentary: Medicaid reform issues affecting the Indian health care system.

Substantial numbers of Indian people rely on Medicaid for their primary health insurance coverage. When state Medicaid programs enroll Indians in managed care programs, several unintended consequences may ensue. This paper identifies some of the perverse consequences of Medicaid reform for Indians and the Indian health care system and suggests strategies for overcoming them. It discusses the desire of Indian people to receive culturally appropriate services, the need to maintain or improve Indian health care system funding, and the duty of state governments to respect tribal sovereignty. Because of their relatively small numbers, Indians may be treated differently under Medicaid managed care systems without significantly endangering anticipated program savings. Failure of Medicaid programs to recognize the uniqueness of Indian people, however, may severely weaken the Indian health care system.

Eligibility Determination↗
PubMed1995

Medicaid managed care: a brief analysis.

Many states have begun to implement Medicaid managed care programs as a means of reducing costs and improving access for Medicaid recipients. This paper presents a review of the debate surrounding Medicaid managed care programs gathered from the literature, professional meetings, and correspondence.

Humans↗
PubMed2007

Efforts to reduce racial disparities in Medicare managed care must consider the disproportionate effects of geography.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of geographic variation on racial differences in 7 of 15 Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures that assess the quality of the Medicare managed care program (also known as Medicare+Choice). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis using the 2004 individual-level HEDIS for Medicare managed care plans and 2003 Medicare enrollment and demographic (ie, denominator) data for more than 5.1 million Medicare+Choice enrollees. METHODS: Individual-level HEDIS data were linked with Medicare enrollment data. Hierarchical generalized linear models were used to assess statistical significance of region and race. Direct standardization was used to estimate the rate of meeting each HEDIS standard while controlling for differences in age and sex. RESULTS: Quality of care for white Medicare+Choice enrollees was strongly correlated with the racial composition of the geographic area. Except for cholesterol management after an acute cardiac event, between-region racial variation was consistently greater than within-region racial variation. CONCLUSION: Removing within-region racial variation while ignoring geographic differences will not equalize the experiences of black and white elders. Rather, both racial and geographic components of healthcare quality must be addressed if the Medicare managed care program is to provide care of equal quality to all elders regardless of race.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1989

Managed health care.

The fundamental components of managed-care plans are described; the development of managed-care programs is discussed; and the impact of managed care on pharmacy services and the price, quality, and accessibility of health care are reviewed. Health care can be considered to be managed when at least one of the following fundamental components is present: prospective pricing, "UCR" (usual, customary, and reasonable) pricing of services, peer review, mandatory use review, benefit redesign, capitation payments, channeling, quality criteria, and health promotion. The managed-care industry consists of health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and managed fee-for-service plans. Managed-care reimbursement principles involve transferring some or all of the impetus for controlling use of services to the health-care provider. Means by which this is done include prospective pricing, services bundling, price discounts and negotiated fees, and capitation financing and reimbursement. Financial risk-sharing arrangements with providers--including hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and home-care companies--are necessary for any managed-care plan to attain true control over its service costs. Use-review and use-management services are also fundamental to containing health-care spending. These include retrospective, concurrent, and prospective reviews of the necessity and appropriateness of medical services. Use management, like services bundling and prospective pricing, has been more effective in reducing costs of hospital inpatient services than costs associated with ambulatory care. Per case payments and services bundling have made individual charges for items irrelevant to hospital revenue. This has forced hospital pharmacy managers to become more sensitive to cost management. Drug formularies, improved productivity, and use of prescribing protocols are means by which hospital pharmacies have controlled costs. However, since shorter hospital stays are not associated with a linear decline in the need for drug therapy, reducing pharmacy operating expenses in proportion to the decline in hospital occupancy is probably not possible. Community pharmacies have responded to managed care by forming pharmacy services administrative organizations. Application of managed-care principles has reduced the use of inpatient hospital services by Medicare beneficiaries, helped HMOs and PPOs to lower prices for some services, reduced use of hospital services by HMO members, and redirected some inpatient hospital care to alternate-care providers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Capitation Fee↗
PubMed1996

Appendicitis in children in the managed care era.

Acute appendicitis is the most common condition requiring emergency operation in children. Late appendicitis is still a major source of morbidity and potential mortality. It has been suggested that managed care programs are responsible for a delay in surgical referral and consequently an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. In light of the increasing use of managed care, the authors reviewed their experience with pediatric acute appendicitis in managed care and indemnity insurance patients. The charts of all pediatric appendectomy patients treated between January 1990 and March 1995 were reviewed. Payor status, surgical and pathological findings, hospital course, and follow-up findings were documented. If the operative note or the pathology report described the appendix as gangrenous or perforated, the case was considered to be late appendicitis. Group I patients had traditional indemnity insurance; group II patients were in our institution's managed care plan. One hundred two patients were identified (28 in group 1, 74 in group II). Late appendicits was found less often in the managed care group (21.6% v 42.9%; P < .01). This resulted in a lower rate of major complications (1.4% v 3.6%) and a lower overall complication rate (2.7% v 7.1%). Group II also had a shorter hospital stay (2.6 days v 4.5 days; (P < .01) and lower average hospital charges ($6,507 v $8,754 (P < .01). These results do not demonstrate any adverse affect on outcome for children with acute appendicitis who have a managed care plan. In fact, the incidence of late appendicitis among these patients was half of that of the indemnity-insured patients. The lower risk of late appendicitis resulted in a shorter length of stay and lower hospital charges. These results suggest that managed care programs can provide quality care along with a significant reduction in costs; no delay in appropriate surgical referral was demonstrated.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2005

Managed care and infant health: an evaluation of Medicaid in the US.

In this study, we examine the effects of Medicaid managed care (MMC) on prenatal care utilization, infant birth weight, pre-term birth, and use of cesarean section in the United States. We obtain separate estimates of the effect of primary care case management managed care programs and health maintenance organization managed care plans on these outcomes. The results suggest the following: among white, non-Hispanic women, MMC was associated with a 2 percent decrease in the number of prenatal care visits and a 3-5 percent increase the incidence of inadequate prenatal care; MMC was associated with a significant increase in the incidence pre-term birth for non-Hispanic white women, but that this association does not appear to be causal; and MMC had no association with the incidence of cesarean section.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1997

Medicare managed care. How physicians can make it better.

The federal government is attempting to control anticipated, increased Medicare health care costs by providing the senior population with incentives to encourage their movement into managed care programs. For-profit corporate HMOs that currently dominate the managed care arena are coming under increased competitive pressure at a time when their perception of profiteering is undergoing increased public scrutiny. If physicians are to take advantage of this window of opportunity and successfully enter the Medicare managed care marketplace, they must identify the major deficiencies existing in the current model, and fashion a new product that divests itself of the profit orientation of current corporate HMOs. A nonprofit version of a highly integrated, multispecialty provider service organization (PSO) provides an appropriate model to effectively compete with the corporate HMO. The ideal physician-controlled managed care model must: develop a responsive policy board structure; create practice guidelines that decrease variation in physician practice; achieve an appropriate balance between primary and specialty medical care; and adopt a quality-assurance program that effectively addresses both process and outcome data.

Health Care Costs↗
PubMed1998

Medical education in a changing world: thoughts from California.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Medical education has been buffeted by the frenetic changes in our health care delivery system. This commentary focuses on six major issues facing family practice training programs caring for underserved populations in California: 1) The patient base for training programs is eroding. 2) There is no or limited funding for graduate medical education (GME) in Medicaid managed care programs. 3) There are barriers to using residents in managed care systems. 4) Disproportionate share funding from Medicaid for hospitals caring for poor and underserved patients does not support medical education. 5) Capitated Medicare and Medicaid programs are siphoning off dollars meant for GME. 6) Consolidation in the health care market is threatening medical education training sites. To address these issues, primary care GME programs should work with community-based sites so both can increase patient care, educational activities, and revenue in this managed care era. At the same time, community-based training sites in primary care GME programs must redesign their delivery systems to provide efficient, cost-effective care. The result will be better access for primary care patients and more appropriate training for our residents. Family medicine educators should become increasingly involved at the local, state, and national levels to ensure that GME funding directly supports training and is not relegated to being a by-product of patient care.

California↗
PubMed1989

Guidelines clarify managed care accounting procedures.

Two new documents offer guidance for accounting issues involved in managed care programs. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Statement of Position 89-5 and HFMA's Principles and Practices Board Statement No. 11 address risk contracting from the perspective of the managed care program and the healthcare provider, respectively. One key issue addressed in the documents is the timing of expense recognition of the costs of providing health services to members of managed care plans.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

Public attitudes on the U.S. health care system: findings from the 1999 Health Confidence Survey.

This Issue Brief presents the findings from the 1999 Health Confidence Survey (HCS), which focuses on Americans' satisfaction with the health care system today and their confidence in the system's future. It compares findings from the 1999 HCS with those from the 1998 HCS, the first year the survey was conducted. In addition, it includes recent findings from the EBRI's 1999 Health Insurance Preference Survey. The 1999 HCS finds that, in many ways, Americans appear happy with their experience of the health care system. Among those respondents who have received care in the past two years, 57 percent are extremely or very satisfied with the quality of the medical care they received; 32 percent are somewhat satisfied. More than one-half (53 percent) are extremely or very satisfied with their ability to choose their doctor, while 23 percent are somewhat satisfied. Close to one-half are extremely or very satisfied, and 41 percent are somewhat satisfied, with the care they received in general. One-half of Americans with health insurance are extremely or very satisfied with their current health insurance plan. Almost four in 10 are somewhat satisfied. Confidence in many aspects of the health care system is high: 74 percent of Americans are extremely or very confident that their pharmacist will fill their prescription correctly, and 20 percent are somewhat confident. Almost six in 10 are extremely or very confident, and 33 percent are somewhat confident, that they will be able to see a health care specialist if they need one. Just under one-half are extremely or very confident that they are able to choose their own doctor or hospital (48 percent confident, 34 percent somewhat confident); that their doctor's treatment will be based on their health care needs rather than on cost (46 percent confident, 36 percent somewhat confident); and that doctors are up-to-date on information about medicine and medical conditions (46 percent confident, 41 percent somewhat confident). The results of the HCS also reveal several areas of concern. First, there is a great deal of confusion about what managed care is and whether or not individuals are enrolled in managed care programs. As a consequence, many Americans' opinions of managed care are based on what they have been told by others, rather than on their own actual experience with managed care. A second area of concern is that several key groups tend to be less satisfied and less confident about the American health care system. These include individuals in managed care, those in poorer health, and women. While many are satisfied with the health care they have recently received, Americans do not rate the overall health care system highly. They are concerned about escalating health care costs, and they lack confidence in the future of health care in America.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed2003

Evaluation of the ESRD managed care demonstration operations.

Individuals with end stage renal disease (ESRD), most of whom are insured by Medicare, are generally prohibited from enrolling in Medicare managed care plans (MCPs). CMS offered ESRD patients the opportunity to participate in an ESRD managed care demonstration mandated by Congress. The demonstration tested whether managed care systems would be of interest to ESRD patients and whether these approaches would be operationally feasible and efficient for treating ESRD patients. This article examines the structure, implementation, and operational outcomes of the three demonstration sites, focusing on: the structure of these managed care programs for ESRD patients, requirements needed to attract and enroll patients, and the challenges of introducing managed care programs in the ESRD arena.

California↗
PubMed2004

Variations in risk-adjusted outcomes in a managed acute/long-term care program for frail elderly individuals.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and investigate the properties of three performance measures based on risk-adjusted health outcomes for a frail, elderly, community-dwelling population enrolled in a managed, acute, and long-term care program. DESIGN: Retrospective analyses of an administrative dataset containing individual level records with information about socioeconomics, health, functional and cognitive status, diagnoses, and treatments. We estimated risk-adjustment models predicting mortality, decline in functional status, and decline in self-assessed health. Each model includes individual risk factors and indicator variables for the program site in which the individual enrolled. Sites were ranked based on their performance in each risk-adjusted outcome, and the properties of these performance measures were investigated. SETTING: Twenty-eight sites of the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) that provide primary, acute, and long-term care services under capitated Medicare and Medicaid payment to a nursing home certifiable, and functionally and cognitively frail community-dwelling elderly population. STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Three thousand one hundred and thirty-eight individuals who were newly enrolled between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1999. The average age of these enrollees was 78 years, 27% were male, 50% were diagnosed with dementia, and they had approximately 4 Activities of Daily Living limitations and 7.4 Instrumental Activities of Daily Living limitations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Risk-adjustment models, performance ranking for each site, and correlations between performance rankings. RESULTS: We present risk-adjustment models for mortality, change in functional status, and self-assessed health status. We found substantial variation across sites in performance, but no correlation between performance with respect to different outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The variations in outcomes suggest that sites can improve their performance by learning from the practices of those with the best outcomes. Further research is required to identify processes of care that lead to best outcomes.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2001

Integrating end-of-life care with disease management programs: a new role for case managers.

Case managers are crucial to any well-designed disease management program. However, in the progressive course of serious illness, patients, their families, and MCOs need the skills of case manager more than ever to help them through end-of-life care choices. The author describes what case managers will need in their "toolbox" to provide insight to these health plan members.

Case Management↗