Managed behavioral health care: an instrument to characterize critical elements of public sector programs.
OBJECTIVE
To develop an instrument to characterize public sector managed behavioral health care arrangements to capture key differences between managed and "unmanaged" care and among managed care arrangements.


METHODS
The instrument was developed by a multi-institutional group of collaborators with participation of an expert panel. Included are six domains predicted to have an impact on access, service utilization, costs, and quality. The domains are: characteristics of the managed care plan, enrolled population, benefit design, payment and risk arrangements, composition of provider networks, and accountability. Data are collected at three levels: managed care organization, subcontractor, and network of service providers.


METHODS
Data are collected through contract abstraction and key informant interviews. A multilevel coding scheme is used to organize the data into a matrix along key domains, which is then reviewed and verified by the key informants.


RESULTS
This instrument can usefully differentiate between and among Medicaid fee-for-service programs and Medicaid managed care plans along key domains of interest. Beyond documenting basic features of the plans and providing contextual information, these data will support the refinement and testing of hypotheses about the impact of public sector managed care on access, quality, costs, and outcomes of care.


CONCLUSIONS
If managed behavioral health care research is to advance beyond simple case study comparisons, a well-conceptualized set of instruments is necessary.
Ridgely
M Susan
MS
RAND Health, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA.
Giard
Julienne
J
Shern
David
D
Mulkern
Virginia
V
Burnam
M Audrey
MA
D001524:Behavioral Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D003625:Data Collection; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000145:classification; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D011635:Public Health Administration; D014481:United States