Managed Care Organizations: A Link in the Chain of Survival?,

Managed care organizations (MCOs) have proliferated throughout the United States. Interaction by patients, physicians, and emergency medical services systems with MCOs is evolving. Although MCOs have had some notable successes in reducing health care expenditures, the way in which MCO enrollees gain access to emergency medical care remains a contested issue. We present the cases of two patients who died after they delayed calling 911 in keeping with the rules of their MCO. [Dickinson E, Verdile VP: Managed care organizations: A link in the chain of survival? Ann Emerg Med December 1996;28:719-721.] See related editorials, Bashing Managed Care: Letʹs Not Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater and Making Managed Care Work