Managing CHAMPUS mental health care with public-private partnerships

When faced with skyrocketing costs and utilization of mental health and substance abuse services covered by the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), the Department of Defense (DoD) turned to a managed care approach to seek improvements. This article provides brief background information on CHAMPUS and its experience in the area of mental health services, describes DoD's partnerships with private sector mental health care firms, and highlights the most successful features of each.