The impact of managed care on gastroenterology

Managed care has emerged out o pressures to reduce the high cost of healthcare and has brought about unprecedented change and uncertainty for the specialist. To flourish in a managed care environment the subspecialist will need to rely on strategic planning. Four emerging approached to healthcare lend themselves to strategic planning. They are 1) practice-based clinical trials, 2) outcomes research, 3) clinical practice guidelines, and 4) systems-based disease management. This report explains how subspecialists in private practice can participate in and profit from each of these new approaches.