title: Outcomes improvement: the true mark of quality in managed care.
abstract: The definition of the term "quality" continues to be centered on health care providers and not the health of the community. The shift to managed care financing provides a unique opportunity to raise the importance of health outcomes as the true mark of quality in managed care. A widespread fear that managed care organizations are too ready to reduce quality for increased profits has lead to a current national backlash against managed care. Instead of only viewing health plan members as recipients of medical services, health plans should also view members as a population group with subpopulations within them, needing both medical and nonmedical services to improve their health. We introduce the Outcomes Improvement System, an outcomes-driven method for managed care plans and other health systems that incorporates both medical care and population-based health services in a managed care setting.
authors.affiliation: UHP Healthcare, Inglewood, Calif., USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Armstead
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leong
mesh_terms: D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D017749:Total Quality Management