ISSUES AND APPROACHES IN EVALUATING MANAGED MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE

Data on the ways in which alternative forms of managed care affect the costs, quality, and outcomes of mental health are needed to inform he alth policy and clinical care decisions. Such evaluations, however, ar e difficult to implement for conceptual and practical reasons. The def inition of managed mental health care is reviewed, alternative forms a re described, and the activities and procedures that constitute manage d care are identified. Examples from existing studies are used to desc ribe the common roadblocks to implementing evaluations and to suggest methods for dealing with these barriers.