Capitated assertive community treatment program savings: system implications.
In a California county of one million people, 500 clients, 4% of all those served in 1994, were found to use 38% of publicly funded mental health services. A controlled experiment was designed to test whether a capitated Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program could produce outcomes that were equivalent or better than "usual services" for a subset of very-high-utilizing clients while reducing costs. Results showed that major challenges in using an ACT program for cost reduction were successfully met. Costs over all 4 years were substantially lower for the experimental group than for a randomly assigned comparison group.
Chandler
Daniel
D
Telecare Corporation, USA. dwchandl@humboldt1.com
Spicer
Gary
G
D002140:California; D002204:Capitation Fee; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D003363:Cost Control; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017146:Models, Organizational; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care