Patterns of service use in two types of managed behavioral health care plans

OBJECTIVE: The study examined service use patterns by level of care in two managed care plans offered by a national managed behavioral health care organization (MBHO): an employee assistance program (EAP) combined with a standard behavioral health plan (integrated plan) and a standard behavioral health plan. METHODS: The cross-sectional analysis used 2004 administrative data from the MBHO. Utilization of 11 specific service categories was compared. The weighted sample reflected exact matching on sociodemographic characteristics (unweighted N=710,014; weighted N=286,750). RESULTS: A larger proportion of enrollees in the integrated plan than in the standard plan used outpatient mental health and substance abuse office visits (including EAP visits) (p