Physicians vs. MCOs: can they cooperate to improve care quality?

The notion persists that quality improvement efforts cause more contention than cooperation between health care plans/payers and physicians. Some plans are overcoming this by investing a variety of resources in physician quality improvement projects--and involving physicians from the start. Aetna U.S. Healthcare Research takes a collaborative approach to physician quality improvement. Detroit's Health Alliance Plan has awarded +3.9 million in grants to fund physician quality improvement projects--as drawn up by its physician groups.