Optimizing growth opportunities during the managed care revolution.

Despite reports to the contrary, managed care is pervasive and growing. By understanding employers' needs and how those needs are forcing managed care to change, hospital and physician provider organizations can create growth opportunities for themselves. To optimize their organizations' financial performance under managed care contracts, healthcare financial managers of providers should develop an overall managed care strategy for their organizations that includes customer-service initiatives and system planning and development, instead of focusing only on contract negotiation.