Increasing the leadership role of medical directors in managed care.

Based on the final group discussion of medical executives in managed care at the Specialist Cambridge Healthcare Summit on March 20-22, 2002, this article highlights the current limitations of medical directors' role in health plans and outlines practical approaches to appropriately increase their influence over the clinical outcomes of plan members, improve relationships of health plans with their key stakeholders, and optimize the overall delivery of healthcare in the United States.