Managed Care Interviews, Research Paper Example

Abstract

I interviewed three people in order to complete this paper. The first person I interviewed was an RN who worked in a local health clinic. She had a significant amount of experience dealing with managed care in her day to day practice. I went on to interview my uncle, who has a managed care plan for his health insurance. My final interview was with my friend’s employer, who purchases managed care plans for all of his employees.

Interview with Linda Kraner, RN

Question: What are the greatest advantages of managed care?

Answer: Well, as I am sure you probably already know, there are three types of major managed care health plans: HMO, PPO, and POS. Each patient’s health needs are unique so different patients may require different types of managed care plans. The purpose of managed care is to give the highest quality of service while keeping costs reasonable. Simply put, it boosts the quality and efficiency of care that patients receive. One of the greatest advantages of managed care is the ability to keep costs as low as possible for the patient and the insurer while still providing quality and necessary care.

Question: What are the drawbacks of managed care?

Answer: As with any system, there are a few drawbacks when it comes to managed care. For example, the HMO model has a considerable amount of drawbacks; one of the most notable being their inability to visit a doctor or hospital outside of their HMO network without paying out-of-pocket. It is very restrictive for patients. While PPO and POS plans are less restrictive, there can still be a great deal of costs involved for the patient if they see someone outside of the network. For example, their insurance may only cover part of the costs of their care or they can choose to cover none at all.

Question: What recent changes in managed care have been positive?

Answer: More people are starting to opt for POS managed care plans due to their increased flexibility. This allows patients to have an easier time gaining the care that they need without suffering as many major financial repercussions.

Question: What changes have caused concern?

Answer: The passing of new health care laws has caused concern for several patients and practitioners. As it stands, we are unsure of how these laws will affect us. Personally, I see these changes having a more positive effect in the long-run. How the laws will affect managed care, however, is uncertain.

Interview with Charles Rogers, Uncle

Question: What are the greatest advantages of managed care?

Answer: I know that I have a managed care plan right now and as it stands I am pretty content with what I’m receiving. I like that I don’t have high co-pays.

Question: What are the drawbacks of managed care?

Answer: Personally, I haven’t had any problems with my managed care plan so I couldn’t really tell you.

Interview with Michael Roth, friend’s employer

Question: What are the greatest advantages of managed care?

Answer: Cost-efficiency is one of the most important advantages I’ve noticed when purchasing managed care for my employees. As a small business owner, it’s difficult to find affordable health insurance plans and before I switched providers I was only able to cover part of the cost of health insurance for my employees. Now I have am able to cover them completely.

Question: What are the drawbacks of managed care?

Answer: One of my employees didn’t feel as though they were getting enough coverage. They also felt the cost was too high. I am not sure if this has something to do with whether the health care plan is managed care or not but that was one of the concerns that was voiced to me.

References

According to the APA manual of style, interviews are not considered part of a bibliography. The references are listed throughout the body of the essay, as is appropriate for APA-style interviews.