The Brandeis/Harvard Research Center for Managed Care and Drug Abuse Treatment with partners from Boston University Department of Economics, Lewin-VHI, and Health and Addictions Research will assess the impact of managed care on drug abuse treatment availability, content, duration, and utilization, as well as on treatment financing and organization. The Center will analyze the techniques and practices used to control access, costs and services, and develop measures which could be used to improve performance and access. The Center's interdisciplinary team of health economists, behavioral scientists, health care practitioners, and experienced drug abuse treatment policy makers will focus on organizational responses to changes in financing and organization associated with managed care. Their unique breadth will generate timely research-based information on managed care in drug abuse treatment and enable Federal, State and local officials, Medicaid authorities, and private payers to structure more effective services. The Center's major aims are to:
Aim 1 : Develop a better understanding of the provision of drug abuse services under specialty managed behavioral health care carve outs.
Aim 2 : Study and compare the effect of various managed care strategies on access, utilization, costs and outcomes of treatment in public and private-sector markets.
Aim 3 : Develop and test performance measures reflecting differences in type of program and severity and risk of clients to allow more appropriate measurement of relative cost and program performance. In addition, the Center will disseminate information about managed care and drug abuse treatment to inform the development of drug abuse treatment policies, and provide guidance to officials and providers engaged in implementing managed care programs for drug abuse treatment services.
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