Systems which cover health care costs, other than on the usual fee-for-service basis. Could include HMOs, IPAs, PPOs, etc.
All forms of providing health insurance coverage other than the traditional fee for service type of contract.
A phrase used to describe all forms of health care delivery except traditional fee-for-service, private practice. The term includes HMOs, PPOs, IPAs, and other systems of providing health care.
This may include PPO, HMO plans. These plans are different from customary fee-for-service plans.
Health care providers other than acute-care hospitals, e.g., neighborhood clinics, treatment centers and visiting nurses.
Health care delivery modes that provide an alternative to traditional fee-for-service by integrating financing issues with patient care services. Anything done outside the inpatient setting or the physician's office based on a payment structure other than an fee-for-service medicine used to be considered "alternative". However, today's rapidly changing health care environment with the growth of HMO's, PPOs and other managed care entities, has made the "alternative" more like the norm. The shape of health care reform also indicates this trend will continue throughout the decade.