School and adolescent health and managed care

The current rapid expansion of managed care in the United States creates opportunities and dilemmas for improving adolescent health. Collaboration among managed care organizations, schools, and public health agencies increasingly is critical to adequately address the health needs of youth and to increase adolescent access to effective prevention services.

This paper discusses exigencies that schools and adolescent health care providers are facing, the relationship of managed care to public health, and the implications of managed care for adolescent health promotion. To illustrate some of these issues, we describe a unique collaborative relationship between HealthPartners, a managed care organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Health Start, a nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota, that manages the eight school-based health centers in the St. Paul Public Schools.