ABSTRACT
The change in delivery of services is based on the key concept of managed mental-health care. This concept can be understood in two ways: Financially, it refers to a strategy of predetermining cost limitations for services; clinically, it refers to an approach to therapy emphasizing brief outpatient care. All of the alternative delivery systems that we discuss are variations of this basic concept. Each system has its own focus, but none is inherently superior to the others.
