What does the term "managed care" refer to?

The term "managed care" refers to a system that integrates the financing and delivery of health care services to control costs while maintaining quality of care. This approach aims to manage and coordinate health care services to maximize efficiency and minimize unnecessary expenditures. Managed care organizations utilize various strategies, such as negotiating rates with providers, implementing preventative care measures, and emphasizing coordinated treatment plans, allowing them to deliver comprehensive services in a cost-effective manner.

By integrating financing and delivery, managed care ensures that all aspects of patient care are aligned. This holistic view helps in managing resources better and controlling costs, which is crucial in the increasingly complex health care landscape. The focus on controlling costs does not mean sacrificing quality; rather, it often encourages improved care through planning and preventive measures that ultimately lead to better health outcomes.

In contrast, the other options either limit the understanding of managed care or misrepresent its core principles. For instance, a system focused solely on reducing costs lacks the essential element of coordinated care delivery. A fee-for-service payment model is fundamentally different because it typically incentivizes more services rather than efficient, integrated care. Lastly, while enhancing patient satisfaction is an important aspect of health care, it does not encapsulate the comprehensive nature of managed care, which is fundamentally concerned with