Sf. Dziegielewski, MANAGED CARE PRINCIPLES - THE NEED FOR SOCIAL-WORK IN THE HEALTH-CAREENVIRONMENT, Crisis intervention and time-limited treatment, 3(2), 1996, pp. 97-111
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.