Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:1141-1147
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychiatry and the fiscal third party
P Chodoff
Third-party payment has profound effects on such areas of psychiatry as
confidentiality; diagnosis; the therapeutic relationship; psychiatry's
identification with the rest of medicine and the role of nonphysician
mental health professionals; psychiatric education; and the availability,
type, location, and quality control of treatment. As third-party payment
becomes increasingly frequent, psychiatrists will have to come to terms
with its good and bad effects in hospitals and community mental health
centers as well as in private practice.
