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Managed Care and Provider Satisfaction in Mental Health Settings

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Abstract

We assess the satisfaction of mental health providers using four dimensions from the medical practice literature—degree of autonomy, relationship with patients, compensation, and administrative burden—and extend current work on professional satisfaction to include frontline service providers rather than only psychiatrists or other physicians. In contrast to results reported for primary care settings, we find that the impact of managed care on satisfaction is minimal for the mental health providers in our study of a Medicaid capitation demonstration in the southeastern US. Instead, variables relevant to everyday working conditions have an important effect on job satisfaction.

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Notes

  1. While most of these studies focus on the provider’s perception of time with patients, one study examined the change in actual length of office visits from 1989 through 1998 (Mechanic et al. 2001). Contrary to popular opinion, the growth of managed care was not associated with a reduction in the length of office visits. The duration of visits actually increased for both prepaid and non-prepaid visits during this time period. Non-prepaid visits were consistently longer than prepaid visits, but even this gap declined from 1 min in 1989 to 0.6 min in 1998.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 600 West 168th St, 6th floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Kimberley R. Isett

  2. Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 MLK Jr. Blvd., CB# 7590, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7590, USA

    Alan R. Ellis

  3. University of Southern Mississippi, Box 5012, Hattiesburg, MS, 39406, USA

    Sharon Topping

  4. School of Public Health and Senior Research Fellow, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 MLK Jr. Blvd., CB# 7590, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7590, USA

    Joseph P. Morrissey

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  1. Kimberley R. Isett
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Isett, K.R., Ellis, A.R., Topping, S. et al. Managed Care and Provider Satisfaction in Mental Health Settings. Community Ment Health J 45, 209–221 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-008-9171-6

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