ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on alternative quality management strategies with special emphasis on the managed care environment. The dramatic growth of managed care has dominated the health care scene in recent years. The system of the future will emphasize cost-effective, high-quality care, and ultimately demonstrable improvements in the health status of entire communities. Health care executives face the challenges of managing health risks of enrolled populations, developing a customer service orientation, information management, clinical care standardization, aligning competing economic objectives of a diverse array of providers, and reengineering entire organizations. The emerging science of “demand management” emphasizes the use of technology to reduce consumers’ need for and use of the most expensive health care services, thereby controlling costs and even improving overall health status of a defined population.
