Evaluating prevention and quality of care in managed care plans: a public health perspective.

Public health practitioners are challenged to ensure the continued provision of necessary services in a rapidly changing delivery system. To accomplish this, new approaches to evaluating access and quality on a population basis are needed. This article presents a number of possible methods for evaluation, with particular emphasis on strategies related to managed care in Medicaid. The importance of considering cost containment in evaluating access and quality and in changing systems is discussed.