Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:43-47
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Private psychiatry and accountability: a response to the APA task force report on private practice
SS Sharfstein, CA Taube and ID Goldberg
National Institute of Mental Health, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, Rockville, Md 20852.
The authors note that the imminence of national health insurance makes it
very important to determine the roles, efficiency, and effectiveness of
both the private and the public sectors of mental health care. The
difficulties in distinguishing public from private care are examined. The
authors present estimated distributions of care by type of provider that
differ from those of an APA task force report on private practice. They
point out the need for objective research on the quality of care in both
sectors and on the effectiveness of alternative mental health systems,
suggesting that public choices should be made on the basis of correct
interpretations of reliable data and accountability to those being served.
