MANAGED CARE PRINCIPLES - THE NEED FOR SOCIAL-WORK IN THE HEALTH-CAREENVIRONMENT

The intention of this article is to explain the role of the health car e social worker in our current managed care environment. Many events h ave occurred over the last ten years that have truly transformed healt h care delivery and the professional expectations that social work pro fessionals will be expected to perform. The history of these changes i s traced and discussed. Explanation of the current role of the health care social worker is described. Several steps are suggested for socia l work professionals to help the profession survive the numerous chang es presented with managed care. A new mind-set to guide time-limited s ervice provision is presented. Suggestions for future survival include : with each service provided emphasis needs to be placed on income gen erated and/or cost savings incurred; savings that result from preventi ve practice strategies must be calculated; emphasize social work servi ces as an integral part of the success of the interdisciplinary team; let other health care professionals and clients know who is providing the service; incorporate a macro emphasis; and, explore non-traditiona l roles for social work professionals to expand the current practice a rena.