21ST CENTURY MANAGED MENTAL-HEALTH - POINT-OF-SERVICE TREATMENT NETWORKS

The managed care product of the twenty-first century in behavioral hea lth is the point-of-service plan now favored by many employers. This p aper describes the nature of such a managed care product and its impac t on mental health. Those designing the new delivery system must (1) c onstruct the ''right'' system which husbands resources for the good of the patient, (2) choose the ''right'' providers, (3) employ the ''rig ht'' financial incentives, and (4) undertake the ''right'' oversight t raining of network providers and analysis of care outcomes.