ABSTRACT
Measurable indices of health care quality are all the rage these days. But physicians know that not everything in health care can be quantified. If reportable numbers become our principal focus, what is in danger of falling through the cracks?
Subject(s)
Managed Care Programs/standards , Quality Assurance, Health Care/classification , Asthma/drug therapy , Coronary Artery Bypass/mortality , Data Collection , Diabetic Retinopathy/diagnosis , Humans , Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy , Managed Care Programs/organization & administration , Medicaid/standards , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Prenatal Care/standards , Quality Assurance, Health Care/standards , United StatesABSTRACT
Physicians might win back some lost autonomy if every ¿No¿ decision from an HMO medical director were subject to review by a state medical licensing board. But views differ on whether the boards should undertake such oversight responsibilities.
Subject(s)
Insurance Claim Review/legislation & jurisprudence , Licensure, Medical/legislation & jurisprudence , Managed Care Programs/legislation & jurisprudence , Physician Executives/legislation & jurisprudence , Clinical Competence/legislation & jurisprudence , Decision Making , State Government , United StatesSubject(s)
Family Practice/organization & administration , Marketing of Health Services/methods , Practice Management, Medical/standards , Decision Making , Guidelines as Topic , Hospital-Physician Relations , Humans , Interprofessional Relations , Managed Care Programs , Physician-Patient Relations , United StatesABSTRACT
Seven states now have laws requiring managed care plans to sign contracts with any primary care physician willing to meet contract terms. How do these laws affect patient care? Here's background on the issue, followed by the views of two physicians: one in favor of such laws and one opposed.
