Two polls were used to measure impact of HMOs and managed care on the quality of health care in Boston. Patients and physicians were interviewed in separate surveys. You can find more information on television polling at our Viewer Views page.
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Two polls were used to measure impact of HMOs and managed care on the quality of health care in Boston. Patients and physicians were interviewed in separate surveys. You can find more information on television polling at our Viewer Views page. |
WCVB-TV and Boston Herald Poll
Here are some key excerpts from the survey of physicians. Individual categories include primary care physicians and medical specialists.
The survey found specific evidence that plan officers' pressure has become part of the medical decision making for some physicians.
Have you ever felt pressure by the administrator of managed care plans because:
| Primary Care | Specialists | |
| Yes | Yes | |
| Working too slowly | 17% | 26% |
| Ordering too many lab tests | 26% | 31% |
| Referring too many patients to specialists | 21% | 12% |
| To provide care to patient rather than send to specialist | 16% | --- |
A majority (61%) of specialists felt business people decide your health care, not doctors. A substantial minority of primary care physicians (40%) agreed.
In HMO plans, business people decide your health care, not doctors.
| Agree | Disagree | |
| PCP | 40% | 49% |
| Specialists | 61% | 32% |
More than half of specialists felt the HMOs were blocking patients from getting needed care so that they could save money. A full third of the primary care doctors who work with HMOs said the same thing.
HMO plans prevent doctors from providing needed care in order to save costs.
| Agree | Disagree | |
| Primary Care Physicians | ||
| Non HMO | 46% | 18% |
| HMO affiliated | 31% | 62% |
| Specialists | ||
| Non HMO | 59% | 25% |
| HMO affiliated | 57% | 34% |
You could see a sharp preference for the fee-for-service approach, when the doctors were asked which system allows for a better relationship between them and their patients. Almost no one was willing to say HMOs were the superior choice.
Do you think that the doctor-patient relationship is generally better for patients enrolled in an HMO or better for patients enrolled in a traditional fee-for-service health insurance plan?
| HMO | FFS | |
| PCPs | 05% | 53% |
| Specialists | 00% | 70% |
When the doctors were asked what they would do for their personal coverage, it wasn't close. The best managed care HMOs could get was one-fourth of the primary care physicians.
If you personally were given a choice between joining an HMO or joining a traditional fee-for-service health insurance plan, which would you prefer?
| HMO | FFS | |
| PCPs | 25% | 58% |
| Specialists | 08% | 79% |
Executed by: The University of New Hampshire Survey Center
Sample: 200 Massachusetts physicians
Field: October 23-29, 1995
Copyright 1995, 1996 by Standish Publishing Company. Photocopying, reproduction or quotation is prohibited without the permission of the publisher. THE RUNDOWN (ISSN:0035-9912) is published weekly. Mailing address: Box 335, Ardmore, PA, 19003- 0335.
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