Analysis of a managed psychiatric disability program

The cost of mental illness to employers has been well documented; however, efforts to effectively reduce the costs of psychiatric disability are adver sely affected by the fragmentation of health care services. This report is a case study of a program in which a managed behavioral health care organiz ation managed the psychiatric disability of a telecommunications company. C ompared with a non-random cohort of claimants not managed under the pilot, the duration of disability was reduced by 23% (17.1 days). Patient and prov ider satisfaction with the program was high. This study illustrates the pot ential for effectively reducing the cost of psychiatric disability and the challenges in coordinating health care.