Medical and health administration education in managed care: needs, content and readings

With both public and private reform initiatives moving toward managed care, curriculum designs are timely and useful to a diverse audience. This paper discusses the need for and design of education in managed care in medical schools and health services programs. The pressures for offering education regarding managed care are derived from interests of various actors of the health system e.g. regulators, purchasers, providers and consumers. The content of education in managed care is defined in seven areas: (1) managed care and health systems design-history and concepts; (2) environment and governmental policy; (3) models, products, services, outcomes and quality; (4) managed care economics and finance; (5) organization and strategic management; (6) legal issues; and (7) future designs/redesigns. Education in managed care is delivered by universities, professional associations and private training and development corporations. All can benefit from a dialogue on curricular content.