In recent years, for-profit (FP) firms have replaced nonprofit (NP) organizations as the most prevalent form of health maintenance organization (HMO). In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the pricing practices of both organizational forms. We theorize that nonprofit HMOs derive utility from conduct that increases their marginal cost above the minimum level. They exhibit this conduct ...

OBJECTIVE We sought to compare total outpatient costs of 4 common treatments for low-back pain (LBP) at 18-months follow-up. METHODS Our work reports on findings from a randomized controlled trial within a large medical group practice treating HMO patients. Patients (n = 681) were assigned to 1 of 4 treatment groups, ie, medical care only (MD), medical care with physical therapy (MDPt), chiro...

Change effort estimation and impact analysis are two important methods to make effective change acceptance decisions for the software development phase. Accepting too many changes causes additional cost and delay in the competition. On the other hand, rejection of the changes may cause customer dissatisfaction. There are very few works have been done to support effective change decisions in dev...

BACKGROUND Immunization rates have improved in the United States, but are still far from the national 90% goal for the year 2000. There is scant evidence about the effectiveness and costs of automated telephone messages to improve immunization rates among privately insured children. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of sending letters, automated telephone messages...