Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION (HMO)

The term "health maintenance organization" (HMO) was coined in the early 1970s to encompass various payment and organizational arrangements for health care. In an HMO, the organization is responsible for assuring that needed medical care is delivered to an enrolled population. This is unlike the typical insurer's responsibility to just pay for care. HMOs typically do not rely extensively on financial disincentives to patients (deductibles or co-payments) to control demand; and they often have providers such as physicians and hospitals share in their financial risk. Some HMOs, especially those using a group-practice model, are developing extensive information systems to monitor and improve on clinical practice patterns.

HAROLD LUFT

(SEE ALSO: Health Maintenance; Managed Care)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Luft, H. S. (1988). Health Maintenance Organizations: Dimensions of Performance. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.

Miller, R. H., and Luft, H. S. (1997). "Does Managed Care Lead to Better or Worse Quality of Care?" Health Affairs 16(5):7–25.