The structure, processes, and outcomes of Banner Health's corporate-wide strategy to improve health care quality.

Banner Health consists of 19 hospitals, 6 long-term care centers and a number of family health clinics, home care programs, and home medical equipment providers in 9 Western and Midwestern states. Banner Health has developed an integrated organization-wide effort called Care Management to simultaneously address quality and safety, reduce patient errors, and measure and report performance, outcomes, and patient satisfaction, while controlling costs through utilization management, care coordination, and performance improvement. Eleven functional areas were identified and more than 36 cross-functional and cross-facility work groups have been created.

US-style commissioning. Raising Arizona.

Strategic health authorities can learn a lot about strategic vision from Arizona's healthcare cost containment system. The Arizona commissioners have greater power than primary care trusts to push through new and more effective models of community care. Commissioner/provider relations can be fraught as health plans hold out for big discounts.

Restoring trust to managed care, Part 3: A focus on public stakeholders.

Managed care organizations face distrust from public policy-makers, the media, and other public stakeholders. To succeed, the managed care industry must work to restore trust in their approach to healthcare delivery. A variety of strategies are presented as ways to mitigate the public's distrust of the managed care industry.

Restoring trust to managed care, part 2: a focus on physicians.

Physicians have lost their trust in managed care plans because of perceived deficits in competency, concern, choice, confidentiality, and communications. To succeed in a market-driven healthcare system, managed care plans must work to restore that trust. A variety of strategies are proposed to address physician concerns related to these 5 domains of trust.

Restoring trust to managed care, Part 1: A focus on patients.

Managed care organizations face distrust from patients, many of whom believe the organizations disregard their interests. To succeed in a market-driven healthcare system, managed care plans must work to restore that trust. A variety of strategies are presented to restore patient trust.