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Biomedical subjects

B Dickey

Publications and source records attributed to B Dickey.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Managed care and children's behavioral health services in Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated changes in treatment patterns and costs of care for children after the implementation of the Massachusetts Medicaid carve-out managed care plan. METHODS: The authors hypothesized that after the introduction of managed care, per-child expenditures would be reduced, continuity of care would not improve, and per-child mental health expenditures would undergo larger reductions for disabled children, compared with children enrolled in the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program. Using data from Medicaid and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, the authors studied 16,664 Massachusetts Medicaid beneficiaries aged one to 17 years for whom reimbursement claims were submitted for psychiatric or substance use disorder treatment at least once during the two years before the introduction of managed care (1991 to 1992) or during the two years afterward (1994 to 1995). Multivariate analysis was used to estimate changes in probability of admission, and, among patients admitted, to identify factors accounting for variation in length of stay. To assess the variation in expenditures, we regressed the same variables, using the natural logarithm function to transform total mental health expenditures data and inpatient expenditures data to reduce skewness. RESULTS: After the introduction of managed care, per-child expenditures were lower, especially for disabled children, and the Department of Mental Health was used as a safety net for the most seriously ill children without increasing state expenditures. Continuity of care appeared to decline for disabled children. CONCLUSIONS: It is likely that a combination of factors related to the reported changes in patterns of care and expenditures were responsible for the overall per-child expenditures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

A self-report symptom and problem rating scale to increase inpatients' involvement in treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The study sought to determine whether psychiatric inpatients who completed a self-report symptom and problem rating scale on admission and reviewed the results with a clinician would perceive at discharge that they had been more involved in their treatment than patients who did not complete the scale. METHODS: In a quasiexperimental design, 109 inpatients were assigned to one of three groups. Patients in one group met individually with a psychiatric resident to review their responses to the Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale (BASIS-32), a self-report outcome assessment tool. Patients' views of their difficulties were then used by the treatment team to build a therapeutic alliance and to inform treatment planning. The remaining two groups received treatment as usual by either a psychiatric resident or an attending psychiatrist. Patients' perceived involvement in decisions about their treatment, perceptions of other aspects of care, and treatment outcome were compared. RESULTS: Patients in the intervention group rated their involvement in decisions about their treatment significantly higher than patients in either of the comparison groups. Patients in the intervention group more frequently reported that they were treated with respect and dignity by the staff than did patients in the comparison group treated by attending psychiatrists. Compared with patients treated by attending psychiatrists, patients treated by residents, whether they received the intervention or not, were more likely to say that they would recommend the hospital to others. Treatment outcome did not differ among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that an outcome assessment tool can be used to engage patients in the treatment process.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Review of programs for persons who are homeless and mentally ill.

Despite recent prosperity in the U.S., homelessness is still a widespread social problem. It is estimated that 25% of homeless persons have a serious mental illness. This article will review the literature evaluating prevention services and specialized outreach, treatment, and housing programs designed to reduce homelessness for individuals who are mentally ill. Although these interventions have been helpful in addressing the complex needs of the homeless mentally ill, it is difficult to measure how they have improved outcomes. It is even more challenging to determine whether the programs are cost-effective. Since public resources are used to maintain services for the homeless mentally ill, policy-makers must be informed about whether the best outcomes are achieved at the lowest possible cost. Following a discussion of the successes of the individual programs and the challenges they confront, several important questions are identified related to improving the efficiency of these programs. Although the establishment of such programs indicates that progress has been made toward alleviating the burdens facing people who are homeless and mentally ill, collaboration among all stakeholders-especially between the mental health community and consumer advocates-needs to be further enhanced. New research can be conducted in a way that improves how information is evaluated and used.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Cost-shifting in manged care.

We conducted a study of the change from fee-for-service to managed care for mental health services in the Massachusetts Medicaid program, which occurred in fiscal year 1993. We estimated the effect of managed care on total public expenditures over both the short and the long term. Per person expenditures were lower by 24% in the first year of managed care but only lower by 5% in the second and third years. We also tested for cost-shifting by estimating expenditures for five specific services paid by three public agencies. Expenditures on services paid by the managed care vendor decreased, expenditures paid by Medicaid increased, and expenditures paid by the Department of Mental Health decreased. We discuss the implications for both cost-shifting and quality of care improvements. The results from two-part expenditure models indicate that some cost-shifting may be related to quality improvement. The effects are generally stronger for the beneficiaries in the highest quartile of expenditures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

An ethnographic study of the meaning of continuity of care in mental health services.

OBJECTIVE: As a step toward developing a standardized measure of continuity of care for mental health services research, the study sought to identify the interpersonal processes of giving and receiving day-to-day services through which individual providers create experiences of continuity for consumers. METHODS: Ethnographic methods of field observation and open-ended interviewing were used to investigate the meaning of continuity of care. Observations were carried out at two community mental health centers and a psychiatric emergency evaluation unit in Boston. Sixteen recipients and 16 providers of services at these sites were interviewed. RESULTS: Six mechanisms of continuity were identified, labeled, defined, and described through analysis of field notes and interview transcripts: pinch hitting, trouble shooting, smoothing transitions, creating flexibility, speeding the system up, and contextualizing. The mechanisms elaborate dimensions and principles of continuity cited by other observers and also suggest new formulations. CONCLUSIONS: The mechanisms identified in this study facilitate operationalization of the concept of continuity of care by specifying its meaning through empirically derived indicators. Ethnography promises to be a valuable methodological tool in constructing valid and reliable measures for use in mental health services research.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Housing costs for adults who are mentally ill and formerly homeless.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the costs, under two different housing conditions, to the state mental health agency of caring for adults who are homeless and mentally ill. One hundred and twelve clients of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, living in psychiatric shelters, were randomly assigned to one of two housing types: Evolving Consumer Households or Independent Living apartments. For the next 18 months each client was followed so that the cost of treatment, case management, and housing could be collected and compared. The authors found that treatment and case management costs did not vary by housing type, but housing costs were significantly higher for those assigned to Evolving Consumer Households. Regardless of original housing assignment, treatment costs were lower for clients who remained where they were originally placed. The authors conclude that providing support for clients that increases housing stability reduces their need for treatment and that independent living arrangements may be a more cost-effective policy choice.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Assessing cost and utilization in managed mental health care in the United States.

Mental health cost containment in the United States has evolved from fragmented utilization review and discounted pricing programs in the 1980s to comprehensive mental health managed care programs in the 1990s, in which the network managing the care takes on financial risks associated with price and utilization for all mental health services provided to an enrolled population. While the earlier programs did not control costs to any significant degree, the newer forms of managed mental health are showing substantial reductions in cost, primarily through the reduction in use of in-patient services. Based on these encouraging but very preliminary results, state Medicaid programs have increasingly embraced managed care for both medical and mental health services for eligible low-income populations. However, little has been systematically evaluated with respect to the effects of aggressive mental health care management upon quality of care, functional outcomes or patient satisfaction. In addition, substantial new investment in merged clinical and financial information systems raises the entry cost significantly for managed care providers.

Capitation Fee↗
PubMed1997

Assessing outcomes in clinical practice.

We are witnessing a remarkable explosion in interest and activity in quantifying outcomes and using these measures to enhance the value of clinical care. Outcomes assessment has become an imperative for clinical practice. This paper first will offer criteria for an ideal system of outcomes assessment. The paper will then review the principal domains of assessment for psychiatric practice and provide examples of instruments available in each domain. We will then describe the use of two instruments, one for clinical outcome and one for interpersonal aspects of patient satisfaction, developed and used at McLean Hospital. The relation between outcomes assessment and outcomes management will then be discussed. Finally, we will discuss the fundamental questions a clinical group or facility might consider in choosing outcomes measurement instruments.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1997

Cost shifting in a mental health carve-out for the AFDC population.

This study tests whether the managed care vendor shifted costs to Medicaid-reimbursed medical care after the start of the mental health carve-out for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) population in Massachusetts. We used claims data over a 4-year period to estimate expenditures for four types of health services, two of which were paid for by the managed care vendor and two by Medicaid. Total per person public expenditures declined by only about 3 percent. Inpatient psychiatric services were replaced by outpatient psychiatric services and some pharmaceuticals, but overall there was little or no evidence of cost shifting to the medical sector. These results are in contrast to what was found in a sample of Medicaid beneficiaries eligible due to a mental health disability.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The cost and outcomes of community-based care for the seriously mentally ill.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the cost-effectiveness of community-based mental health care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Administrative data from Medicaid and the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health; primary data from 144 psychiatrically disabled adult Medicaid beneficiaries who lived in Boston, central Massachusetts, and western Massachusetts. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional observational study compared the costs and outcomes of treatment in three different types of public mental health service systems. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Beneficiaries, randomly sampled from outpatient mental health programs, were interviewed about their mental health status. All their acute treatment and long-term continuing care for the preceding year were abstracted from Medicaid and Department of Mental Health files. Costs were extracted from Medicaid paid claims and from Department of Mental Health contracts and other financial documents. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Clients in the region allocating a greater proportion of its Department of Mental Health budget to community support services used far fewer hospital days, resulting in lower per person treatment expenditures. Outcomes, however, were not significantly different from outcomes of clients in the other regions. For all regions, substance abuse comorbidity increased hospitalization and total treatment costs. An individual-level cost-effectiveness analysis identified western Massachusetts (community-based care) as significantly more cost effective than the other two regions. CONCLUSIONS: Systems with stronger community-based orientation are more cost effective.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Managing the care of schizophrenia. Lessons from a 4-year Massachusetts Medicaid study.

BACKGROUND: In 1992, Massachusetts launched a state-wide managed care plan for all Medicaid beneficiaries. METHODS: This retrospective, multi-year, cross-sectional study used administrative data from the Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance and Department of Mental Health, consisting of claims for 16,400 disabled adult patients insured by Medicaid in Massachusetts between July 1, 1990, and June 30, 1994. The main outcome measures include annual rates of hospitalization, emergency department utilization, and follow-up care 30 days after discharge; length of inpatient stay; and per-person inpatient and outpatient expenditures. RESULTS: Between 1991 and 1994, the likelihood of an inpatient admission decreased from 29% to 24% and was accompanied by a slight reduction in length of stay (median number of bed-days per admission dropped by 3.3 days). There was a slight decrease in the number of patients who sought care in general hospital emergency department utilization. However, there was a small increase in the fraction of patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Medicaid and Department of Mental Health expenditures for mental health per treated beneficiary decreased slightly, from $11,060 to $10,640, during the 4-year study period. CONCLUSION: Although per-person expenditures dropped and most patient patterns of care remained the same, longer-term study is recommended to asses whether the trends can be maintained.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Using health status measures with the seriously mentally ill in health services research.

Changes in the delivery of mental health care have prompted interest in using generic health status measures to test the effect of system change on those receiving treatment. Of special concern are those with serious and persistent mental illness who may be neglected when cost containment efforts reduce the availability of treatment services. This population may be affected by these changes, which might go undetected if investigators use scales that measure only pathology and not the full spectrum of well-being. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of using self-report health status measures with this population, to describe the psychometric properties of the scales, and to report the health status scores of a random sample of the Medicaid psychiatrically disabled population. We found that the four health status scales had adequate psychometric properties, that score variability was high, the distributions normal, and that patterns of association with more traditional clinical measures were of the expected size and direction. One scale, General Health Perceptions, had reliability and item-to-score correlation below acceptable levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Use of mental health services by formerly homeless adults residing in group and independent housing.

OBJECTIVE: The study examined patterns of mental health service use among 112 formerly homeless mentally ill adults to determine whether clients in a staffed group living situation would need fewer types of services or lesser amounts of some services than those living independently in single apartments. METHODS: Clients in the Boston McKinney demonstration project were randomly assigned to two housing types: individual apartments or a group living situation designed to teach residents to manage the house and their own affairs with minimal staff presence. The types and amounts of services these clients used during an 18-month period were documented and compared. RESULTS: Service use by all clients was heavy, especially use of inpatient psychiatric services. It did not differ by housing type. The large majority of clients in both housing types were able to remain housed and avoid homelessness. Clients who did not stay in assigned housing for the duration of the study had higher levels of inpatient service use, including detoxification and substance abuse treatment. CONCLUSIONS: When homeless mentally ill adults are provided permanent housing and accessible mental health treatment and specialized social services, they are likely to avoid unstable housing patterns, which are associated with higher use of inpatient services.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1996

Persons with dual diagnoses of substance abuse and major mental illness: their excess costs of psychiatric care.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the costs of psychiatric treatment for seriously mentally ill people with comorbid substance abuse as compared with mentally ill people not abusing substances. METHODS: Three different sources of data were used to construct client-level files to compare the patterns of care and expenditures of 16,395 psychiatrically disabled Medicaid beneficiaries with and without substance abuse: Massachusetts Medicaid paid claims; Department of Mental Health state hospital inpatient record files; and community support service client tracking files. RESULTS: Psychiatrically disabled substance abusers had psychiatric treatment costs that were almost 60% higher than those of nonabusers. Most of the cost difference was the result of more acute psychiatric inpatient treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Although the public health and financial costs of high rates of comorbidity are obvious, the solutions to these problems are not. Numerous bureaucratic and social obstacles must be overcome before programs for those with dual diagnoses can be tested for clinical effectiveness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Acute and chronic psychiatric care: establishing boundaries.

Despite advances in psychiatry, a proportion of those with mental illness have episodes of severe illness, and a few of these patients may attain only partial recovery. In this respect, mental illness is similar to physical illness and systems of acute and chronic care are essential. As mental health care financing and delivery systems undergo further flux and reform, we will require clear, consensually developed definitions of levels of care, especially because of the complexities created by a legacy of a 2-tiered, public and private mental health system. This paper first will offer definitions and examples of acute and chronic illness and care. We will also address certain problems inherent to such a classification. We will then consider principles of and potential plans for a system of financing and care for the chronically mentally ill. Two existing plans will be reviewed as illustrations of innovations in chronic care. As health reform changes the financing and delivery of care for the mentally ill, an opportunity exists to integrate public and private monies and services and to improve upon the care of the acutely and chronically mentally ill.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed1995

Regional variation in service system performance: comparing the perceptions of key stakeholders.

Area variation studies rarely focus on perceptions of service system performance in their comparative analyses. Using an instrument designed specifically for assessing key stakeholders' perceptions of the performance of mental health service delivery systems, this study compared three areas in Massachusetts that differ significantly with regard to service system structure and resource allocation. Despite these differences, key stakeholders' perceptions of service adequacy, availability, quality, and coordination did not vary substantially, although the findings suggest that to some extent organizational structure may have more effect than resource availability and allocation on perceptions of key stakeholders within the three systems. These differences were also of far less magnitude than differences in hospitalization rates and other more traditional measures of service system performance. The authors argue that stakeholders' perceptions should be considered, along with other standard performance measures, in evaluating service system performance.

Efficiency, Organizational↗
PubMed1995

The impact of preadmission approval and continued stay review on hospital stay and outcome among children and adolescents.

Managed care has emerged as the centerpiece of the health care industry's efforts to control costs and ensure appropriate use of hospital services. This study assesses the impact of managed care by preadmission approval and/or continued stay review on length of psychiatric hospitalization and clinical outcome of children and adolescents. The sample included 277 cases hospitalized in nine psychiatric specialty hospitals in 1990. Demographic and clinical characteristics, hospital ownership type, and preadmission approval or continued stay review were used as independent variables in a multiple regression model to predict length of stay and clinical outcome. Results indicate that the model accounted for 27% of the variance in length of stay. Previous psychiatric hospitalization and for-profit hospital status predicted longer hospitalization. Clinical outcome was not significantly predicted by the model. Managed care did not predict either length of stay or clinical outcome. Implications for health care reform are discussed.

Adolescent↗