March 2002

DM Vendors Start To Address Costs Created by Comorbidities
Some vendors are moving from offering just a few programs to embracing systems that try to deal with all the complicated overlaps.

John Carroll

Q&A

Alan T. Wright, MD: He Wants AdvancePCS to Manage More Than Drugs
The CMO of the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager says that the company's mission has broadened. One new area of focus: worker productivity.
Cover Story

Defined Contribution: Threat... or Fad?
Sensing an invasion of their territory, MCOs are jumping into a market forged by a group of upstarts. The development renews a fundamental debate about the juxtaposition of consumer involvement, cost containment, cost shifting, and quality of care.

Michael D. Dalzell

The Department of Managed Care
California sets a precedent again, with a bold effort to regulate the HMO industry. While the new Department of Managed Health Care is facing down 50,000 consumer gripes monthly, director Daniel Zingale intends to keep administrative red tape from overwhelming plans, patients, providers, and his department.

Charles Downey

Some Lessons To Be Learned From Canadian Health System
Our neighbors to the north deliver care that is cheaper, but there are disputes concerning quality and growing unrest with irrational rationing.

Marlene Piturro, PhD, MBA

Peer-Reviewed

An In-Office Diagnostic Procedure To Detect Dermatophytes In a Nationwide Study of Onychomycosis Patients

David Pariser, MD ; Carol Opper

Editor’s Memo

Change Is To Be Expected, But Not Always Welcomed

John A. Marcille

Ethics

Don't Let Language Be Barrier to Care

Michael S. Victoroff, MD

Washington Watch

Illinois's Medicare Drug Program Called 1st Stab at National Reform

Michael Levin-Epstein

Compensation Monitor

Primary care physicians' compensation better reflects productivity
Practice Improvement

Getting Patients in the Door Faster Can Boost Satisfaction, Outcomes

Bob Carlson

Legal Forum

'Team Approach' to Contract Talks Means That Nobody Feels Cheated

Mildred Beam-Rucker, JD

Managed Care Outlook

Employees increasingly inclined to enroll for benefits via Internet



News & Commentary

Will HHS Proposal Mean Better Info – Or Tighter Spin?

M+C Enrollees Bound to Their Choice Until June

6 Large California Plans Link Doc Bonuses, Quality

How Medicare beneficiaries spend money on drugs

Headlines On Deadline ...

NCQA To Help CMS Monitor Quality of M+C Plans