Putting Patients First?

To the Editor: The editor of the New England Journal of Medicine is entitled to be a critic of managed care, but it is profoundly disturbing to see such an important and presumably dispassionate publication used as a sounding board for these critical views (July 31 issue). 1 The managed-care community, acting through the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP), is in the process of developing and implementing the AAHP's Putting Patients First initiative. We were disappointed that in critiquing this program, you gave insufficient attention to what this unprecedented effort does and missed the importance of our members' going on . . .