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.
McCulloch
J
J
Research and Evaluation, United Behavioral Health, 425 Market Street, 27th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. joyce_mcculloch@uhc.com
Ozminkowski
R J
RJ
Cuffel
B
B
Dunn
R L
RL
Goldman
W
W
Kelleher
D
D
Comporato
A
A
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