Don't Give In To Demands of Managed Care, Says Panel
Excerpts from Psychiatric News: June 18, 1999, p.10
APA's 1999 Annual Meeting
Professor Bursztajn said that all doctors should practice what he called
"economic informed consent." "It's very important at the
beginning of treatment to review and inform the patient of all the [treatment]
alternatives that might be helpful to the patient-not just the ones that
are covered," he advised. 'Also,' he continued, 'you need to be
able to support patients' freedom of choice. And if you have to terminate
treatment because the [insurance] company is denying benefits, you need
to go ahead and support the patients in advocating for themselves.' The
goal, said Dr. Bursztajn, is to aid the patient in obtaining whatever
documentation he or she (or their attorney) needs to show that the treatment
is essential, a right no managed care organization should be allowed
to deny.
If the insurance companies force physicians to drop certain patients,
physicians should pass on that information and be up front about the
reasons. Just dropping patients without telling them why can harm them,
even push them into developing a posttraumatic stress disorder, advised
Dr. Bursztajn. 'You have to be honest with patients from the beginning
of treatment, to the middle of treatment, to the end of treatment,' said
Dr. Bursztajn.