Overview
Changes in health care markets and regulatory environments threaten some managed care–public health collaborations, such as those involving the delivery of personal health services and the management of clinical practice. These changes are creating a need for new relationships to support population-based, patient-focused health interventions that provide health education, information dissemination, and outreach. To be successful, these activities will need to move from the periphery to the core of managed care operations and public health practice, a move that will require much larger investments of human, financial, and intellectual resources from both participants. The difficulties that face these collaborative relationships should not be understated, but neither should the enthusiasm that continues to build in the marketplace, the medical community, and the field of public health.
