A model of case management for mental health services

Case management involving private mental health services is a strategy for organizing previously uncoordinated services and for controlling the costs of treatment. The goal of most case management is rehabilitation, that is, to return the client to an adequate level of functioning in the shortest period of time. The case manager's job is to advocate payment for the most effective and cost-effective treatment alternatives, even when they vary from the traditional approach. Case managers must have clinical knowledge, good interpersonal skills, and authority to determine which services will be reimbursed. Good case management should have systems for selecting and evaluating providers, for selecting cases, and for evaluating outcomes.