title: Panel discussion: impact of guidelines on third-party payors and HMOs.
abstract: Utilization management (preauthorization) has given way to disease management, i.e., the management, by providers in cooperation with third-party payors, of patients and their disease states from beginning to end. Managed-care organizations are seeking guidelines-based cancer disease management programs that result in: lower, more predictable costs; authoritative quality assurance; measured outcomes; reduced preauthorization disputes; and improved management of cases in clinical trials. Guidelines also need to provide some consistency and consensus regarding the management of common clinical problems. Good guidelines help assist managed-care companies gather data, build a more solid utilization management foundation and support a clinically sound disease management program. Aetna's Institutes of Excellence (IOE) program seeks to address the issue of coverage for high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation, but can serve as a useful model for the development of comprehensive cancer networks.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Care Management, LLC Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grigsby
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bouda
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sanchez
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement; D007857:Leadership; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D018579:Patient Selection; D010819:Physician's Role; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States