Dialogue: should any willing provider laws become a mandate for behavioral healthcare? Consumer and payors require customization and choice of network products.
To reiterate, if managed behavioral health plans or delivery systems wish to offer products that include AWP, they should be able to do so. This is typical of indemnity and POS products. Conversely, if they wish to offer products with selective networks, they should be able to exercise this option also. If the principle of market choice in selection of a product can be allowed to operate, it will tell us what products are valued. The available evidence so far indicates that consumers (patients) are as satisfied or more satisfied with their treatment when it is delivered in a selective network (e.g., HMO) as when they are in an AWP network (e.g., fee for service). There is a great deal of change (and opportunity) for providers in managed behavioral healthcare today, not unlike transitions in other professions which have undergone significant changes (e.g., manufacturing, crafts, farming). The stresses that are creating greater efficiency, accountability and innovation in mental health and substance abuse service delivery are also causing provider anxiety and altered practice styles and lifestyles. While managed behavioral health plans and delivery systems need to be sensitive to these stresses within the provider community, it is not the responsibility of any organization to assure a group of workers that they will always be paid for doing what they did in the past, in the way they did it in the past. Given the pace of our growing knowledge about behavioral healthcare, that would be an irresponsible objective.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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United Behavioral Systems, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.
D003256:Community Participation; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011243:Preferred Provider Organizations / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011357:Product Line Management; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce