MANAGED CARE IN MENTAL HEALTH

This research examines the application of the concept of managed care in the health care delivery environment in the United States. Historical information relative to managed care is reviewed. Advantages and disadvantages associated with the delivery of health care services in managed care environments are discussed. The application of the concept of managed care in the area of mental health also is addressed. Managed care services in the State of Arizona are discussed.

Managed care is a program type that proponents claim ensures appropriate care for a wide range of medical treatments through the application of techniques such as preadmission certification, concurrent review, case management, utilization rules, and price limits. Opponents contend that managed care is a deceitful sham designed to maximize profits and minimize care. The truth about managed care likely lies at some point along the continuum of opinion. The intent of the application of the managed care concept is to balance access to services, service quality, and the cost of services in relation to health care in the United States. The concept of managed care derived from the cost containment crisis in the delivery of health care services in the United States.

Dynamic change characterizes the American health care environment in the 1990s. Within such an environment, care providers and support organizations must devel

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The contemporary health services sector is comprised of a wide variety of types of health care providers. Health maintenance organizations, behavioral medicine clinics, nursing homes, and general acute care hospitals are among the major components of the health services sector. A major and growing source of change for health care economics is the presence of corporate health care providers as major players in the health services sector. In the delivery of health care services through nonprofit or public sector organizations, it is not always possible to deliver all services, or to deliver specific services at the highest level. The reason for this situation involves the scarcity of resources, particularly financial resources. The positive side of managed care is that such institutions effectively recover the costs of the services delivered. On the negative side, the application of the concept has the potential to turn a hospital into an assembly line activity, wherein cost accounting will cause the quality of care to suffer. The rapidly growing forprofit managed care sector not only refuses to recognize any responsibility for the funding of health care services for the working poor, they also (in almost all instances) ref
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4737
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page)

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