Improving access to the underserved through Medicaid managed care.

New York City's Harlem community faces extraordinary health care needs that a failing economy has made more urgent. In an attempt to open lines of access to health care, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has implemented a managed care program for Medicaid participants. The program is a team approach to link each Medicaid patient with a primary care physician responsible for coordinating medical services for the patient. We hope the managed care program will help us conserve our dwindling resources while better managing patients' services and improving access to care.