I am a billing service who specializes in mental health practice management and I fully agree with your statement regarding managed care. There are some solutions to avoiding future problems. I reccomend to all my clients when signing managed care contracts to througouly review those contracts, fee schedules, etc, I then review them and pass them on to the providers attorney. I tell them to avoid the contracts that won't disclose the fee schedule until you sign up! Of course the best practice is the "CASH" practice, but we know how managed care has ruined that. Good benefit verification of eligibility and coverage is essential to the mental health practice.
Linda Walker http://www.walkerinc.com