How healthcare providers really feel about managed care and other forms of insurance is very important. If doctors and hospitals do not feel good about the payments they receive from specific managed care organizations, they may choose not to work with those organizations. That can leave a large number of patients without care in their local area that is included in their provider network - and that is not going to be beneficial to the growth of managed healthcare in the future.

Cox, T. (2006). Professional caregiver insurance risk: A brief primer for nurse executives and decisionmakers. Nurse Leader, 4(2): 48-51.

The different kinds of insurance offered for those who want or need medical coverage is very important. Managed care is part of that insurance landscape, but it is relatively new in the grand scheme of things. Those who are professional caregivers have to be aware of the risks they take when they accept particular kinds of insurance, so they can make proper determinations as to whether they should avoid one or more insurance plans.

Hogg, W., et al. (2005) Cost savings associated with...

Anything that will allow for better treatment of patients and a reduced cost to those patients and their insurance companies should be explored. It is the aim of managed healthcare to do this, but whether that aim is being met is significant.
Kongstvedt, P.R. (2001). The managed health care handbook, (4th ed). NY: Aspen Publishers, Inc.

A deeper and clearer understanding of managed care is needed overall. Many people think it only means an HMO or a PPO. Some have no real concept of what managed healthcare is designed to do, and whether it is meeting the goals that were created for it at its inception. Without an awareness of managed care as something that affects everyone in the country, future decisions cannot be adequately made. Naturally, that poses a serious issue for those who will need healthcare well into the future.