The role of IPA/medical group network model managed care organizations in STD control: is information technology the...

The increasing restructuring of health care into managed care organizations (MCOs) offers new opportunities for rethinking public health strategies and initiatives in sexually transmitted disease (STD) control. Managed care organizations offer an important organizational network through which STD prevention initiatives can be deployed. A major barrier is the need for an information technology infrastructure to link thousands of providers, many in small groups or sole proprietor offices, to the centralized databases of large network model MCOs. Internet/intranet technology and electronic medical records represent important developments that could expand the capacity of MCOs to meet these needs.