Institutional Forces in the Acceptance of Managed Care Practices by Physicians

We evaluated physicians' acceptance of managed care using data from Connecticut physicians. We grouped physicians' attitudinal responses on three dimensions and applied an institutional distance framework to evaluate factors that influence physicians' acceptance of managed care practices. Our results demonstrate the potency of institutional forces in affecting physician attitudes: health care organizations must more effectively integrate their values and beliefs with the physician community. The institutional distance theory evaluated in this article provides new information for policymakers and managers as gaining physician acceptance of certain practices is necessary to ongoing efforts to reform the health care system.