From HealthPartners, Inc, Minneapolis, Minn. Address correspondence to: George J. Isham,
MD, HealthPartners, Inc, PO Box 1309, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1309. E-mail: george. j …

One of the most complicated and perplexing problems facing the evolving healthcare system
is that of establishing a suitable balance between containing costs and safeguarding the …

Changes in the way that health care is perceived, delivered, and financed have occurred
rapidly in a relatively short time span. The 50-year period since World War II encompasses …

Through the use of managed care techniques in recent years, the insurance industry has
tried to bring the runaway costs of medical care under control. The result of this control effort …

Managed care is designed to cut health care costs. While quality assurance (or Total Quality
Management [TQM] and Continuous Quality Improvement [CQI] the newer concepts) is an …

Over the last decade, the general public and providers have become increasingly
concerned about the quality of care provided by managed care organizations. This article …

Since 1990, Margaret E. O'Kane has served as president of the National Committee for
Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to …

Objectives At its heart, accreditation is based on the application to an organization of
preestablished standards by external reviewers that results in an overall conclusion about …

Managed care refers to organizing healthcare provision in such a way that costs are
reduced and quality of care is improved. It is the dominant system of delivering and receiving …