Some distinctive features of the impact of managed care on psychiatry

Past research suggests that the spread of managed care is affecting the treatment of mental and physical illnesses differently. This article develops six hypotheses that could explain the differential effects of managed behavioral health care, based on characteristics of mental disorders, professional norms of treatment, and the broader societal consequences of untreated mental illness. Using data from the 1998 Socioeconomic Monitoring System fielded by the American Medical Association, we tested these hypotheses by comparing the experiences of psychiatrists under managed care with those of primary care providers and medical specialists. We found the following: (1) psychiatrists face substantially more aggressive external review than do primary care providers and are less successful in overturning denials; (2) psychiatrists feel significantly more at risk for disaffiliation from health plans; (3) psychiatrists report facing review protocols that are more confusing than those for primary care physicians, but psychiatrists' staff spend less time on external review; (4) psychiatrists are more likely than other physicians to report that their patients have difficulty making informed choices about managed care; and (5) psychiatrists evidence greater time commitment to advocacy on behalf of their patients with respect to managed care.