Connections has embarked in a collaborative research study partnering
with Buckeye Community Health Plan/Cenpatico Behavioral Health, and the
University of Akron’s Doctoral Program in Counseling. The purpose of this
study is to empirically evaluate the effect that a coordinated multidisciplinary
team of managed care and community mental health agency staff has on the
following outcomes: client satisfaction, treatment compliance, psychosocial
improvement, and biopsychosocial cost reduction (including cost savings
related to physical and mental health care).
Potential implications of the study include (1) concrete determination
of effectiveness and/or areas for improvement of current multidisciplinary
team approach community mental health centers and managed care companies,
(2) increased treatment compliance with both medical and mental health services,
resulting in fewer visits to hospital emergency rooms or inpatient psychiatric
units, (3) lower long-term expenditures related to mental and physical/medical
health care for clients enrolled in managed Medicaid health plan, and (4)
initiatives towards a “best practice” model in the delivery of clinical
care from a fiscally responsible venue between community mental health and
managed care.
