Medicaid managed care and public health policy

This article provides an overview of managed care concepts and highlights several issues for public health practitioners. Taken from a transcription, this summary is based on a Forum on Public Health and Health Reform held in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 12, 1995, sponsored by the Public Health Practice Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Examples of issues related to managed care for public health practitioners discussed here include: (1) building on managed care plan report cards for large employers so they have an expanded community perspective; (2) developing report cards for Medicaid managed care plans; (3) obtaining patient encounter information from managed care plans for purposes of surveillance and epidemiologic studies; (4) adjusting provider utilization profiles to take into account the differences in the population being served; (5) linking managed care plans with specialized public health providers and community institutions; and (6) consumer surveys related to prevention and public health services.