Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1003-1006
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Case review and quantity of outpatient care
B Blackwell, M Gutmann and L Gutmann
Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, WI 53201-0342.
Case review for patients belonging to a health maintenance organization was
implemented in a hospital-based, multidisciplinary, outpatient clinic after
the influx of 28,000 Medicaid enrollees. One-year follow- up of 138
patients with prepaid mental health insurance and 283 patients with
fee-for-service mental health insurance revealed an annual mean of 6.1
treatment sessions; 78% completed treatment within eight sessions. The
modal treatment was a single visit. Prepaid and fee- for-service patients
did not differ in amount of care, although significant differences were
found for insurance subgroups. These preliminary results suggest that case
review has little effect on quantity of care.
