1.   The avoidance of unnecessary institutional care by assessment of need for care.

2.   HMOs pay their doctors in part through financial incentives designed to discourage unnecessary care.

3.   In theory, managed care saves money by reducing costly emergency room visits through greater use of less expensive preventive care, and by cutting down on unnecessary care.

4.   Ira Loss, a Washington-based health industry analyst, also said the regulations complicate efforts by HMOs to discourage unnecessary care.

5.   Proponents say that savings accounts would free people to choose their own doctors and treatments, yet provide financial savings to those who avoided unnecessary care.

6.   State Farm representatives pointed to long-awaited changes that were to have reduced expenses for unnecessary medical care for injured drivers.

7.   Such plans differ from traditional health insurance in that they seek to hold down costs by emphasizing preventive care, reducing hospitalization rates and limiting unnecessary care.

8.   The ascendancy of managed care insurers that attempt to control cost by eliminating unnecessary care has helped to rein in rampant health care spending.

9.   The idea is to give retirees a financial incentive to avoid unnecessary care, yielding savings in the long term.

10.   To managed-care companies, these sentries, known at HealthNet as utilization management coordinators, are the first line of defense against unnecessary care.