March 2002
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.
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.
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.
Our neighbors to the north deliver care that is cheaper, but there are disputes concerning quality and growing unrest with irrational rationing.
Some vendors are moving from offering just a few programs to embracing systems that try to deal with all the complicated overlaps.
David Pariser, MD ;
Carol Opper
Departments
Washington Watch
Michael Levin-Epstein
Compensation Monitor
Practice Improvement
Bob Carlson
Legal Forum
Mildred Beam-Rucker, JD
Managed Care Outlook