Analysis of a managed psychiatric disability program.
The cost of mental illness to employers has been well documented; however, efforts to effectively reduce the costs of psychiatric disability are adversely affected by the fragmentation of health care services. This report is a case study of a program in which a managed behavioral health care organization managed the psychiatric disability of a telecommunications company. Compared with a non-random cohort of claimants not managed under the pilot, the duration of disability was reduced by 23% (17.1 days). Patient and provider satisfaction with the program was high. This study illustrates the potential for effectively reducing the cost of psychiatric disability and the challenges in coordinating health care.
Research and Evaluation, United Behavioral Health, 425 Market Street, 27th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. joyce_mcculloch@uhc.com
J
J
McCulloch
R J
RJ
Ozminkowski
B
B
Cuffel
R L
RL
Dunn
W
W
Goldman
D
D
Kelleher
A
A
Comporato
D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014481:United States