A survey of NAMCP physicians and NBCH employers found that respondents agreed about most aspects of managed care, including its essential characteristics, but differed over its disadvantages. Both physicians and employers were evenly divided on managed care's most important goal. About one third of respondents of each group chose one of the following top goal: containment of costs, improvement of quality, or optimization of trade-offs among goals. To achieve its most important goal, respondents agreed that managed care should achieve better use and control of resources, encourage consumers' responsibility in health care purchasing, collect health outcomes data, and include more preventive care. If these changes occur, physicians and employers expected that the health care system would move closer to achieving its goals. Managed care's cost effectiveness is its most important advantage. Physicians and employers agreed that reduced patient freedom of choice was its primary disadvantage, but they differed on its other disadvantages. Managed care is in the process of transforming the medical care landscape. To fulfill its potential, physicians and employers agreed that it is important to work together on a variety of issues to measure and improve quality, to use resources efficiently, and to define employee responsibility for health.

Goldschmidt PG,  Ip A. How doctors and employers view managed care: results of a NBCH/NAMCP survey. Managed care medicine 1996; 3(5): 19-28.