Managing Care, Not Dollars: The Continuum of Mental Health Services [Hardcover]

Robert K. Schreter (Editor), Steven S. Sharfstein (Editor), Carol A. Schreter (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0880488557 | ISBN-13: 978-0880488556 | Edition: 1

By 1994 the total cost of health care in the United States approached $900 billion annually. In reaction to this explosive growth, the managed care industry, acting as the agent and administrator for government and health care payers, has taken an increasingly aggressive stance on controlling costs with a view toward hospitalization as the last option for mental health treatment. This new emphasis on cost containment demands effective and less costly alternatives to hospitalization. Although most clinicians have grudgingly accepted the inevitability of both managed care and cost controls, the question remains: How can we develop a coherent mental health care system that controls costs while working effectively for both patients and clinicians? In Managing Care, Not Dollars, leading clinical experts argue that in order to survive, psychiatric institutions must offer a full range of services to large numbers of patients. Rather than concentrating on budget issues, clinicians and hospital administrators should use advances in treatment and technology to develop a coherent continuum of mental health care capable of delivering a wide variety of effective treatment options and alternatives to hospitalization. This guide to the creation and use of the emerging continuum of care provides an in-depth examination of the individual components of seven state-of-the-art treatment programs including suitable patients, treatment goals, staffing, physical plant, and special adaptations for children and the elderly. It also offers decision-making tools for managers to use to adapt their existing programs to survive in this new era and reviews the various public policy issues arising out of the health care transformation. By reading this book, clinicians, policymakers, and administrators can begin to grapple with the problem of learning to do more with less.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book successfully illustrates how mental health care can be delivered by innovative,creative clinicians in response to the current demands for accountability and cost containment. . -- Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Journal

(...) the present volume will no doubt become required reading for public policy programs and mental health administration courses as well as for programs in mental health, ethics, and the law that are ready to proceed to the requisite next level of analysis -- American Journal of Psychiatry

. . A must for mental health professionals, general readers, graduate students, and faculty -- Choice

Clearly and cogently presented, Managing Managed Care, Not Dollars is a 'must read' for consumers, clinicians, and managers of mental health services -- Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

It is an exciting and thoughtful presentation of the continuing evolution in the provision and organization of managed mental health services -- Contemporary Psychology

The book will help individual clinicians in their treatment planning, groups in their efforts to develop continuum of care opportunities, educators with their students, and policy analysts in conceptualizing what well-managed behavioral healthcare really looks like -- James Sabin, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Associate Director, Teaching Programs, Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Cambridge, Massachusetts

This book is the first integrated presentation of the clinical and management models required for successful participation in the new marketplace -- Anthony F. Panzetta, M.D., Founder and Former CEO of TAO Inc., President, A.F. Panzetta, M.D. and Associates, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania

This edited work is timely and has as its aim assisting clinicians, policy makers and administrators to provide effective care in a managed care world -- Psychiatric Times

About the Author

Robert K. Schreter, M.D., is Medical Director of Psych Services, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. Steven S. Sharfstein, M.D., M.P.A., is Medical Director and C.E.O. of The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Health System, Baltimore, Maryland, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland. Carol A. Schreter, M.S.W., Ph.D., is a freelance writer on health and aging based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: Amer Psychiatric Pub; 1 edition (January 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880488557
• ISBN-13: 978-0880488556
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,392,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)