With the consistently rising costs of health care services, utilization management and utilization review are routinely used in the vast majority of current health care settings. How are they evolving over time, and what is involved in these processes? What do health care managers need to be aware of as the processes play out?
In the absence of sweeping policy change (or the complete restructuring of the United States health care system), utilization management and utilization review are much more moderate processes to attempt to preserve the quality of care provided while controlling overall health care expenditures. Let’s learn a bit about each of these processes, and how they are implemented in our current health care environment.
Using the information in the required readings as well as some additional research in peer reviewed sources, complete your Case Assignment by answering the following:
1. Compare and contrast utilization review and utilization management in health care. What are the similarities and the differences between each type of assessment? (Hint: One is generally a prospective process, and the other is generally a retrospective process).
