HMO resurgence in Orange County, Calif., bucks national trend - Industry Watch - health maintenance organizations continue to dominate the market in Orange County, California - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, Oct, 2003

Bucking the national retreat from tightly managed care, health maintenance organizations continue to dominate the Orange County, Calif., healthcare market, according to a new report released on August 14 by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

The relative stability of the Orange County market stands in stark contrast to the turmoil of two years ago, when many medical groups were still reeling from the aftershocks of the collapse of national physician practice management companies. The short-lived experiment to organize physicians into very large networks ended up disrupting patient care, threatening many medical groups' financial stability, and prompting new state oversight of medical groups that accept financial risk for patients' care.

To read the report, go to www.hschange.com/ CONTENT/593.