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Surveys reveal
consumers and health professionals are dissatisfied with managed care posted 10-6-97 Recent surveys reveal that patients and medical professionals are increasingly dissatisfied with managed care. According to a survey conducted in August by Louis Harris and Associates, 54 percent of Americans say the trend toward managed care is harmful to them, up from 43 percent the previous year. The poll also found a 44-to-44-percent tie in response to the question of whether the trend toward managed care was good or bad. Two years ago, 59 percent liked the trend and 28 percent did not. Another survey, published in the September issue of the journal Health Affairs, shows that 55 percent of physicians questioned in 1995 believe that managed care organizations are contributing to the overall decline of the national healthcare system. While rising healthcare costs were a major source of dissatisfaction throughout the 1980s, in recent years consumers and physicians have complained more about the perceived dip in quality associated with managed care plans that were designed as affordable alternatives to fee-for-service care. While surveys show that patients generally pay less for healthcare services than in the past, many are unhappy with the impersonal care they receive in the managed care system. The American Association of Health Plans, whose members include most HMOs, says it can be hard to adjust to change. The group says the number of healthcare consumers switching to managed care plans is causing some of the increase in dissatisfaction. "The entire healthcare system is in a period of transition, from a predominately fee-for-service system to a prepaid system, and from inpatient to outpatient care," said Donald B. White, spokesperson for the American Association of Health Plans. "Transitions like these are almost always unpopular." In addition, Americans tend to be distrustful of organizations even when they are personally satisfied with the service those systems provide, he said. Harris polled 1,007 adults for the consumer study. Two thousand physicians participated in the survey published in Health Affairs, which was researched by Harris, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the Harvard School of Public Health. Related Site |