Handbook of Quality Management in Behavioral Health

For the first time in history, behavioral health providers are expected to understand and participate in activities intended to access and improve the quality of services they provide. This handbook is designed as a general resource in the field of behavioral health quality management for a very diverse group of readers, including graduate and undergraduate students, payors, purchasers and administrators within managed care organizations, public sector service system planners and managers, applied health services researchers and program evaluators. This volume provides a comprehensive context for the development of quality management (QM) in health services - behavioral health in particular - as well as an overview of tools, techniques, and programs reflecting QM in practice. It also offers perspectives on both internally- and externally-based QM activities.

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I The Changing Context for Quality Management in Behavioral Health.- 1 The Changing Health Services Environment and Its Impact on Quality Management in Behavioral Health.- 2 Challenges to the Preservation of Quality in Cost-Contained Behavioral Health Systems.- II Tools for Quality Management.- 3 Protecting the Consumer: Issues in the Development and Implementation of Practice Guidelines.- 4 Information Management for Clinical Decision Making.- 5 Quality Improvement: Current Research in Outcome Management.- 6 Provider Profiling as a Quality Improvement Tool.- III Quality Management in Practice.- 7 The Role of the Managed Care Organization in Ensuring Quality of the Service System: Maintaining the Full Continuum of Services.- 8 Critical Indicators of Quality of a Service System: What Graduate School Never Taught You about Accountability.- 9 Challenges to Quality Management in the Public Sector.- 10 Quality Management Practice Issues in Behavioral Health Groups.- 11 Ensuring Quality in the Treatment of Chemical Dependency.- 12 Quality Management in Practice: Re-visioning Practice Guidelines to Improve Treatment of Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Disorders.- 13 Practice Guidelines Regarding the Conduct of Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents.- 14 Using Practice Guidelines for Quality Improvement in the Treatment of Depressive Disorders in Managed Delivery Systems.- IV For the Good of the Public: Regulating Bodies and Their Roles.- 15 Governmental Initiatives in the Area of Quality Assurance.- 16 The Role of External Entities in the Quality Management Process: The National Committee for Quality Assurance.- 17 Licensing and Credentialing as Quality Management Tools in Behavioral Health Care.- 18 Legal and Quality of Care Issues for Providers in Managed Behavioral HealthCare Arrangements.- 19 Role of Professional Organizations in Advancing Quality of Care within the Behavioral Health Professions.- 20 The Consumer's Role in Assessing Quality.- 21 Afterword.