managed care

any system of health care delivery that regulates the use of member benefits to contain expenses. The term originally referred to prepaid health plans (e.g., HMOs) but is now applied to many different kinds of reimbursement and utilization review mechanisms. It is also used to denote the organization of health care services and facilities into groups to increase cost-effectiveness. Managed care organizations (MCOs) include HMOs, PPOs (preferred provider organizations), point-of-service plans (POSs), exclusive provider organizations (EPOs), physician–hospital organizations (PHOs), integrated delivery systems (IDSs), and independent practice associations (IPAs).

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Psychology term of the day

February 2nd 2025

placebo effect

a clinically significant response to a therapeutically inert substance or nonspecific treatment (placebo), deriving from the recipient’s expectations or beliefs regarding the intervention. It is now recognized that placebo effects accompany the administration of any drug (active or inert) and contribute to the therapeutic effectiveness of a specific treatment. For example, patients given a placebo to relieve headaches may report statistically significant reductions in headaches in studies that compare them with patients who receive no treatment at all. This term is also used more generally in nonclinical studies to indicate any effect arising from participants’ expectations regarding the study.