Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:19-24
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
High users of outpatient mental health services, I: Definition and characteristics
CA Taube, HH Goldman, BJ Burns and LG Kessler
Division of Biometry and Applied Sciences, NIMH, Rockville, Md.
Mental health coverage generally limits benefits for high use, which is
assumed to be discretionary. The authors present data from the National
Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey. Of the individuals who
made mental health outpatient visits in 1980, 9.4% made 25 or more visits
and accounted for 50% of mental health visits and expenditures. These high
users were compared with low users and with high users of other health
care. One-third of the mental health high users were highly disabled and
had multiple medical disorders. The authors point out the heterogeneity of
this population and suggest that psychiatric benefits be differentiated
according to patients' needs and services offered.
