Managing the termination of a hospital system from your provider network: a case study

In 1992, a decision was reached by Medica Choice, a large open-access HMO with over 350,000 members, to terminate their contact with a large five-hospital system. In this article, the authors discuss the details of this termination, identify the organizational strategies for successfully managing the contract termination of a major hospital system from a health plan's provider network, attempt to identify the possible pitfalls in managing such a transition, and offer suggested guidelines for tactical planning for similar situations.