Competition on quality in managed care

Competition on quality in managed care.

There is intense competition between managed care organizations (MCOs) in the USA based on cost and benefit coverage, but scant attention to differences in quality. Consumer preference for 'choice' has stimulated the growth of overlapping networks of providers across competing MCOs. These networks have tended to perform less well on the quality indicators in report cards than staff model MCOs. ...

Do Managed Care and Market Competition Lower Hospital Nursing Quality ?

As the efforts in health care cost-cutting continue to grow, so too does the need to understand their potential impact on the quality of care patients receive. This study uses patient outcome measures as a proxy for hospital quality to investigate what market forces affect them. Preliminary results show that the probability of an adverse outcome depends on market, hospital, and patient characte...

Perspectives: Safeguarding Quality In Managed Competition

Trends in managed care and managed competition, 1993-1997.

According to the recent literature, we are experiencing a managed care "revolution," and managed competition is increasingly being embraced by private- and public-sector policymakers. Using two large employer health insurance surveys, this paper presents new estimates that both confirm and add to our understanding of changes taking place in employment-based health plans. The dramatic shifts in ...

Managed competition and California's health care economy.

There is evidence in California of a broad decline in health care costs to employment groups adopting managed care and managed competition--premium reductions up to 10 percent. National comparisons and utilization data generally confirm the beginning of lower costs. Large California medical groups and health systems have responded to pressure by finding ways to reduce costs and improve quality....