Which of the following BEST describes a 'staff model' HMO?

Explanation

HMO organizational models under the federal HMO Act and California Knox-Keene Act include: (1) STAFF model — physicians are W-2 employees of the HMO working in HMO-owned facilities and seeing only HMO members; (2) GROUP model — the HMO contracts with one multi-specialty medical group, which may or may not see outside patients; (3) NETWORK model — the HMO contracts with multiple groups; (4) IPA (Independent Practice Association) model — the HMO contracts with an IPA whose individual physicians remain in private practice and see other patients. Contracting with multiple independent physician practices whose doctors keep seeing non-HMO patients therefore describes the IPA model, not the staff model. Letting each member choose any community physician with fee-for-service reimbursement describes traditional indemnity, not an HMO at all. Federal Medicare ownership is fabricated; HMOs are private (Medicare Advantage HMOs are private plans contracting with CMS, but the HMOs themselves are not federally owned). Staff-model HMOs are the most tightly integrated form.