ABSTRACT
The colloquial reference to managed care in the United States includes the clinical, financial, and organizational activities assumed to be designed to ensure the provision of appropriate health care services in a cost-efficient manner. Managed care activities are most often conducted by insurance plans, health plans, and a variety of industry professionals that assume risk for a defined population such as health maintenance organizations, but managed care is often used as a broader term and encompasses many different types of organizations,
payment mechanisms, review mechanisms and sometimes, provider collaborations. Sometimes the term is used more generically, as a term for the activity of organizing doctors, hospitals, and other providers into groups in order to enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care.
