Costs and effective management of health care in general, and behavioral health care in particular, have been of primary importance and concern to federal, state, and local governments. With the passage of Health Care Reform (HCR) these concerns will only escalate. Thus, the necessity for the development of innovative, successful, and integrated cost-effective treatments and procedures is evident. The behavioral health care model presented here is proposed to address these needs. The model centers on the composition of effective psychosocial treatment and provides a cost analysis of social work and its services. By defining the problems that need to be addressed in health care management and cost containment, and applying findings of evidence-based studies, this article provides an effective model for health care organizations. It also presents a profile of the behavioral health social worker, defining the requisite abilities for effectiveness in the role and looking at the key impact areas for a behavioral health model. This comprehensive guide will prepare new social workers entering health care organizations as well as provide a valuable reference for existing social workers, academics, and practitioners of behavioral health care.
Keywords: Health Care Reform; Integrated behavioral health.