Best and Worst Practices In Private Sector Managed Mental Healthcare

Best (& Worst) Practices In Private Sector Managed Mental Healthcare Part II: Confidentiality July 1999 Methodology
To compile this report, NMHA first conducted a thorough literature review on managed care and privacy issues. This included attention to current laws, regulations, medical trade association policy statements, and accreditation standards, as well as comparison with NMHA's own position statement in this area. Drawing on the strengths and gaps in these materials, we next collected and reviewed detailed information on existing confidentiality protocols under private sector managed care systems. While this report includes information about more than 20 of our nation's largest health maintenance organizations and mental health "carve-outs," we would like to thank the following organizations for supplying us with extensive written materials to assist us with our study: CompCare First Mental Health Magellan Health Services MCC Behavioral Care Oxford Health Plans Sheppard Pratt Health Plan United Behavioral Health ValueOptions Of note, as we found conducting the research for the first report in this series, many managed care organizations were unresponsive and resistant to sharing their policies on confidentiality publicly. We think this constitutes a worst practice. Once we completed our collection of materials, we next reviewed them thoroughly to identify best and worst practices, drawing on themes and recommendations from our own standards and position statements, as well as those held by other organizations, such as accrediting bodies and other mental health organizations and associations. We selected the five following key areas with the most disconcerting problems as well as tremendous variability in quality: Maintenance of Consumer Information Medical Records and Session Notes Managed Care Staff Policies Protocols for Clinicians and Their Staff Special Populations and Circumstances It is important to note that this was a qualitative, rather than quantitative review process. However, excerpts from managed care policy documents (provided in italics), as well as citations from other resources are provided throughout to illustrate and support key findings and recommendations.	Introduction "Top 10" Key Findings and Recommendations Methodology NMHA Standards for Responsible Management of Consumer Information (Position Statement P-34) Maintenance of Consumer Information Medical Records and Session Notes Managed Care Staff Policies Protocols For Clinicians and Their Staff Special Populations and Circumstances Additional Resources