Caring in a managed care environment--a case study in teamwork.

Level of care decisions in managed care require matching the patient's intensity of symptoms with the appropriate placement in the least restrictive setting. In planning appropriate treatment for a patient, the case manager at a managed care organization (MCO) considers "Why now?," examining the patient's diagnosis, as well as other pertinent factors, such as precipitant and the proximal cause for the patient's request for help. Team efforts between the MCO clinicians and the patient's treating clinicians improve the likelihood of patient/treatment outcome.