University MSO: an academic medical center's managed care strategy

In all markets of the country, academic medical centers (AMCs) are organizing their response to increasing managed care penetration. This is true in New York City, home of six academic medical centers, as well as in the New York metropolitan, tristate area with a total of nine AMCs. The adaptable structure of a management services organization (MSO) offers the AMC the mechanism to position itself in the managed care market, to integrate its institutions and physician practices, and to link community physicians, affiliated institutions, and ancillary service providers. This article describes the approach used by New York University Medical Center and its clinical faculty to form an MSO and the MSO's strategic expectations for the future.