Options for physicians working within the prepaid medicine system make sense when you understand the pros and cons, strategies, and structures analyzed in this guide to the new managed care environment. -- Evolution of the managed care movement -- Myths about organizational requirements for managed care success -- Pros and cons of solo practice versus IPA, PHO, or group practice -- Working for a hospital or HMO -- Entrepreneurial, legal, and regulatory characteristics of each model -- Best opportunities for primary care and specialist physicians -- The ideal physician organization for managed care -- Future winners and losers, quality of care, reform, and Wall Street Analyze the cost and benefits of practice and managed care proposals, because an informed choice makes good medicine work.

You'll find the practical guidance you need to transition smoothly int o the managed care environment. You'll learn the pros and cons of prac ticing in a managed care setting, the daily life of managed care physi cians, the role of managed care in medical education and health care r eform. Discover how to take advantage of new opportunities and avoid p itfalls, balance cost consideration with clinical decision-making, and understand the case mix systems most frequently used in managed care. Written almost entirely by physicians, The Physician's Guide to Manag ed Care is a must for any physician interested in meeting future chall enges.

This book answers the growing need for concise, practical information about the business aspects of medicine. Written for medical students, residents, and physicians interested in medical management, it covers issues such as the forces shaping health care delivery, physician management skills, economic aspects of managed care, medical, scientific and legal considerations in health care delivery and business aspects of medical management. With a focus on the skills and theory behind medical management, rather than on specifics, this book is a must-have primer for medical trainees and professionals.

The first section leads us through the complicated and risky business of capitation and examines reimbursement in a managed care environment. The idiosyncrasies of managed care contracts are detailed and you will learn how to negotiate with managed care companies. There is a focus on practice profiling and the presentation of an expertise on referral guidelines. The final chapter explores the ethical issues of managed care. In section II you will find a description of outcome research and youseful information for the implementation of outcomes research in community-based office practices. The third section begins with two chapters on improving office efficiency and managing staff in a managed care environment. The next chapter leads us through the important and complicated software selection process for the individual practitioner's needs. A private practitioner offers his insight into managing a medical practice and the section completes with some helpful pointers to avoid malpractice claims. Section IV provides the physicians' response to managed care. The legal issues of mergers and networks are discussed. Several practicing physicians outline their personal experiences in the rapidly changing world of physician network development. The book's final chapter leaves us with an expertise on how physicians can take back healthcare