Coming Problems in Behavioral Health Care

Screening for behavioral health problems in primary care.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The epidemiology of behavioral health disorders in children and the current literature on the identification of these problems within primary care are reviewed. Suggestions are offered on how to implement screening within primary care settings. RECENT FINDINGS The prevalence of behavioral health problems in children is approximately 12-27% yet the detection of these problems...

Medicare, managed care, and behavioral health care.

Health Care and Behavioral Economics

It has been said that “goodness without knowledge is weak and feeble, yet knowledge without goodness is dangerous.”1 Peter Diamond is one of those extremely rare people who combine knowledge and goodness. Indeed—and I hope this doesn’t offend anyone in the room—Peter is probably the smartest person I know. In addition to that, he is simply a wonderful person and colleague. I am thrilled that th...

Health care problems in prisons.

© 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors The principle that prisoners are entitled to the same level of health care as that provided in the wider community is accepted in enlightened society and within enlightened prison systems. Ruth Elwood Martin (page 637) documented the number of female inmates at a BC institution who would be willing to undergo Papanicolaou smear screening if t...

Risk sharing in managed behavioral health care.

While policymakers have expressed concern over the impact of risk sharing with providers on treatment patterns, the literature lacks decisive evidence on which to base policy. This paper evaluates the impact of a contracting change within a managed behavioral health organization from a fee-for-service system to a case-rate system with utilization management delegated to providers. The contracti...