VALUE AND VALUES - CAN WE PROVIDE VALUE AND RESPECT PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY VALUES - A RENEWED MISSION FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY

Public and private purchasers want low-cost managed behavioral healthc are products and services, period The vast majority of public behavior al healthcare procurements - if not all - have been awarded to the low -priced bidder. Similar trends prevail in the commercial market The do wnward price pressure from commercial, state and county purchasers is so intense that behavioral health services risk becoming a commodity, and dramatic measures must be implemented for managed care organizatio ns to remain solvent within downsized public budgets. In this context, can a low-priced product that purchasers want also be one that provid es value to consumers as well as to employers and taxpayers? To achiev e this goal, what kind of radical re-engineering of behavioral health services will be required? Are price-sensitive public and private sect or purchasers creating a moral hazard for our field, forcing providers to choose between staying solvent and providing necessary and appropr iate care? What are the professional and community values that must be respected in price-sensitive managed care? How can these values be st ructured into managed care operations and into the purchasing criteria wed by cost-cutting employers and public administrations, without cre ating the health plan version of ''unfunded mandates''? These challeng es are addressed by behavioral healthcare leaders who represent differ ent dimensions of our enterprise.