Managed Healthcare back issues from June 1998:
HMOs figure to have a role in PSO healthcare delivery
Jun 01, 1998; ... When Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, it sought to level the managed care playing field by making it possible for healthcare providers to contract directly for Medicare business. The action was based on the belief that physicians and hospitals would band together together to ...
HCFA revs up its fall information campaign
Jun 01, 1998; ... Inconsistency in plan data makes it hard for beneficiaries to comparison shop, GAO says WASHINGTON, D. C.-The Health Care Financing Administration plans to spend $114 million this year on the National Medicare Education Program to inform beneficiaries of expanded options under its ...
'PARCA Lite' revisions continue to draw fire
Jun 01, 1998; ... WASHINGTON, D. C.-Despite efforts to address objections from employers, insurers and health plans, Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) failed to mollify critics with his visions to the Patient Access to Responsible Care Act (PARCA). The PARCA '98 proposal, which Norwood hopes will be ...
PSO rules introduced
Jun 01, 1998; ... Washington, D.C.-To comply with requirements of the Medicare +Choice program, the Health Care Financing Administration has published new policies defining how provider-sponsored organizations may participate in Medicare. PSOs need to have $1.5 million minimum ...
Colorado facility sets 'managed care precedent'
Jun 01, 1998; ... DENVER-Weary of what they call restrictions imposed on them by managed care, about 100 physicians here have opened a shortstay and ambulatory care hospital whose mission is high-quality care and top-of-the-line customer service. Precedent Health Center, owned completely by Precedent ...
Trustees' annual report confirms Medicare's stay of execution
Jun 01, 1998; ... HI trust fund hangs by a thread while SMI fund's rapid growth requires initiatives to curb Part B outlays WASHINGTON, D. C.-The annual report of the Trustees of the Medicare trust funds confirms that the Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund, which pays inpatient hospital expenses, will ...
Appeals are a far better option than litigation
Jun 01, 1998; ... Consumers who get a fair hearing for grievances are less likely to sue health plans for denied care prime objective of the patient rights campaign is to require health plans to expand grievance and appeals procedures to protect consumers in managed care plans from arbitrary coverage and ...
DM payoffs include lower costs and better utilization
Jun 01, 1998; ... Disease management programs benefit payers, providers, patients and their families One of the great advantages of the managed care model is its ability to improve care for individuals with chronic diseases. Coordination of care and consistency of providers should improve outcomes and ...
Hospitals, providers chart a collision course with HMOs
Jun 01, 1998; ... The fate of PSOs, be they foe or friend to MCOs, will be determined by individual market conditions Hoping to foster competition among managed care plans, Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 last summer. Congress believed that provider-sponsored organizations could help ...
Rural markets offer real hope for return on your PSO investment
Jun 01, 1998; ... Many observers believe development of provider-sponsored organizations under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 will occur most frequently in urban areas, where Medicare reimbursement rates are highest. But rural areas offer fertile ground as well, in part because the Health Care Financing ...
HMO honor roll winners build up customer loyalty
Jun 01, 1998; ... The wise health plans know that it's much cheaper to keep the member you already have than to recruit a new one he stakes are high for health plans these days. Competition is fierce, consumers have more choice than ever from employers and disenrollment rates are climbing. Plans are stepping up ...
Analysts ponder merger of United HealthCare, Humana
Jun 01, 1998; ... Proposed $5.5 billion stock-swap deal is `Aetna/US Healthcare' replayed, one says NATIONAL REPORT-Reaction to the proposed $5.5 billion tax-free stock-swap merger of Minneapolis-based United HealthCare Corp. and Humana Inc. of Louisville, Ky., drew comparisons with another recent merger ...
The little tech firm that could
Jun 01, 1998; ... Health Systems Technologies follows a simple motto: stick to your guns Call it a learning curve. For all types of healthcare concerns, from providers seeking to form their own delivery systems to upstart managed care organizations to technical firms looking to capitalize on today's ...
Stepping up to stratified care for migraine headaches
Jun 01, 1998; ... MCOs that embrace severity and control needs can cut costs and improve outcomes over time Many a doctor joke has ended with the punch line, "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." But for many of the 25 million Americans who suffer from migraine headaches, that advice is ...
Creativity differentiates health plans in volatile, competitive marketplaces
Jun 01, 1998; ... Tufts, Lovelace and Watts health plans stick to their missions while seeking opportunities in diversified health communities Amid shrinking margins and rising consumer expectations, it's tough enough for an MCO merely to survive. So how does an organization thrive in such an ...
Staple drugs, new treatments and roles hope to solve Asthma's modern paradox
Jun 01, 1998; ... Corticosteroids and anti-leukotrienes aside, prevalence still is rising and MCOs are turning to pharmacists to manage individual cases If you liken disease management to a newly discovered continent, asthma would be the first settlement, and asthma case managers the pioneers ....
Specialty care facilities make a case by improving outcomes and costs
Jun 01, 1998; ... Greater efficiency and improved patient satisfaction make this new breed of hospitals especially attractive to managed care plans Betty Walker, of Edinburgh, Texas, had been treated for a chronic heart condition at several hospitals in the nearby Rio Grande Valley. But she ended up at ...
Online databases serves Medicare managed care
Jun 01, 1998; ... In spite of minor nuisances, HCFA's new Web site could be a blueprint for the future Medicare enrollees can now use the Internet to search for and compare managed care plan options. This was made possible by the Health Care Financing Administration, which recently launched ...