Quality assurance and managed mental health care

Quality assurance demands that health professionals meet the timeless mandate of helping (when we can) and doing no harm. The delivery of quality care has been profoundly influenced by systems of managed care, which may represent the principal trend in organized medicine in the 1980s. This chapter first defines quality and quality assurance. We then define managed care and managed mental health care. The implications of managed care on patients and health professionals are then addressed. Finally, we discuss examples of what has been done and what can be done to help ensure the continued provision of quality care in a cost-conscious society.