Managed Care

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in recent years, managed health care has flourished, particularly in relation to the elderly population. It shows how how, after the change in Medicare services from fee-based to managed care, senior citizens have seen a number of changes to their health care, both in terms of their options as patients and in the services received. It looks at how these changes impact the patients, their families, and the medical staff responsible for their current state of health. It also analyzes how, with the extended use of advanced practice nurses, tighter ethical control, and more participation of health care providers, there is hope that the managed care system can still function as designed and how, if steps are taken to ensure quality and quantity of providers, the managed care system can lead to lower costs and better care for our elderly population.

From the Paper:

"By definition, managed care is as a combination of insurance and a health care delivery system. The goal of managed care is to organize all health care services received by a patient in order to maximize the benefits of those services, and to minimize their costs. By using a predetermined network of health care providers, the managed care system can avoid over inflated costs. In addition, by requiring prior approval from a primary care doctor for certain services, managed care also avoids unnecessary health related tests and other costs. Managed care plans use their own network of health care providers and a system of prior approval from a primary care doctor in order to achieve this goal."

More papers on Managed Care:

• Essay # 36990 : "Managed Care"
• Research Paper # 92286 : "Managed Care and the Patient-Physician Relationship"
• Term Paper # 139722 : "Counseling in the Managed Care Environment"
• Essay # 89147 : "Managed Care in the United States"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: