Acknowledgments

This document reflects the efforts of many contributors: national experts in the fields of substance abuse, mental health, Medicaid, child welfare, consumer advocacy, and the attorneys who represent these fields. The need for managed care contracting information in State and local agencies and the desire to make this document a state-of-the-art guide to contracting for managed care services for people with addictive and mental health disorders brought together individuals and organizations from diverse fields, with affiliations in Federal, State, county, and local governments and in both the public and private sectors.

Oversight, guidance, and support for this publication was provided by a Development Panel made up of experts in managed care contracting for substance, abuse, mental health, and medical services from across the country. Development Panel members attended the initial concept meeting, developed outlines, drafted chapters, offered consultation, and provided comments throughout a long and challenging development process. They were very generous with their time, and their knowledge and dedication helped ensure that this document would have a practical application to public managed care contracting. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Development Panel members Sara Rosenbaum, who provided substantive knowledge of the legal aspects of managed care contracting, contributed the bulk of the sample contract language, and reviewed the entire document for accuracy; Paul Litwak, who played a formative role throughout the project and contributed substantially to the chapters on developing a managed care initiative and management information systems; Rick Ramsey, who played an active leadership role throughout and contributed to many chapters; Robert Mirel and Steve Wood, who made invaluable contributions to the chapter on management information systems; Neal Cash, for sharing his first-hand experience with provider-sponsored networks; and Richard Dougherty, Haiden Huskamp, and Tony Broskowski, for sharing their expertise on financial issues.

Important contributions were also made by the staff and constituents of several national organizations and government agencies, including the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, the National Association of County Behavioral Health Directors, the American Public Welfare Association, and the Health Care Financing Administration. These stakeholders provided guidance early in the development process, making recommendations concerning what they sw s the most-needed information as they confront the challenges associated with developing managed care contracts.

More than 50 field reviewers representing the mental health, Medicaid, substance abuse, and managed care fields offered extensive feedback on the document and in many ways shaped its focus. The collective input form these individuals-was invaluable.

Finally, thanks go to the dedicated staff of Health Systems Research, Inc., including Project Director Stephen Moss, William Ford, Kathy Jacquart, Dhlia Shaewitz, Cathy Corder, and Daniel Kent; and to consultant editors Constance Gartner, Betsy Earp, Kerry Kemp, and Carolyn Davis.

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