 Welcome to our Managed Care topic center. The health care system in the United States has been radically transformed by the advent of managed care over the past 30 years. Conceived as a means of cost-cutting in the face of ever-increasing healthcare expenditures, managed care has successfully shifted the balance of power within the medical field; reigning in spending excesses, lowering payments for services, and standardizing on efficient best practice care standards when possible. Many fields have been affected. For instance, doctors' independent decision making authority (their ability to order any diagnostic tests, or perform any interventions they wish) has been reigned in, and in many cases their reimbursements for services have declined. Also, Masters level health professions (nurses, physician's assistants, etc.) roles as care providers have expanded.
Given the ongoing changes brought by managed care, it is important for healthcare patients to become ... Continue Reading This Article
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