Mental health services within the HMO group

This paper describes the organizational characteristics, benefits, referral, utilization, and costs of mental health services within 17 health maintenance organization (HMOs) comprising The HMO Group in 1990. All 17 health plans responded to the questionnaire, resulting in a 100% response rate. Responses to the survey reflected the complexity of the HMO mental health services field. Overall, The HMO Group members provided mental health service coverage, partly dependent upon state mandates, employer group priorities, and local competitive benefit structures. HMOs reported that service utilization rates and the productivity of their mental health providers were critical information needs. Overall, the responses reflected the need for continued information sharing between The HMO Group members, the modification of management information systems, and continuation of establishing a mental health aggregate data base.