Position Satatement 44: Marketing of Mental Health Services and Benefit Packages for Children and Adolescents
Policy Position
As a leader in the field of advocacy and social action on behalf of children and adolescents with mental health and substance abuse needs, Mental Health America is concerned about the practices employed by some providers and third-party payers in marketing mental health services and benefits for children and adolescents.
Mental Health America acknowledges the power of effective advertising and encourages health care entities and reimbursement sources to market their services and products in a sensitive and responsible fashion. Given inaccurate and/or incomplete information, families are unable to make fully informed choices about their children's health care. Families and caregivers must be provided with honest, understandable, and detailed information about the service options available and the mechanisms by which these services can be funded.
Concerned families need careful guidance from professionals who have the responsibility for differentiating between problems of normal development and serious mental health and substance abuse needs. Intervention must be appropriate to the child's needs and affordable to the family. To these ends, the Mental Health America asserts the following:
- Families must be given the opportunity to review service alternatives available to them and to consider their options. Service providers might consider including information about the need for comprehensive evaluation and a discussion of service alternatives as part of their marketing efforts.
- Service providers are urged to fully disclose the nature and extent of services they offer, for whom these services are intended, their areas of specialization supported by any necessary credentials, and the agency or program's staffing patterns and levels.
- Providers should furnish information regarding the outcomes of children and adolescents who have participated in the service previously. Families are encouraged to be educated consumers and to look for evidence of effectiveness in the services they seek for their children.
- It is essential that service providers acknowledge when a particular program or service might be inappropriate to meet a child's needs. Some services may be insufficient and others might be overly restrictive for an individual child's mental health or substance abuse needs.
- It is incumbent upon third-party payers to fully disclose to policy holders what services are and are not covered, what the approval for payment process involves, and what the appeal mechanism is should they disagree with the payment decisions. It is also recommended that both third-party payers and providers assist families in exploring funding mechanisms for necessary, appropriate, least restrictive treatment and services not covered by a private policy.
- Integrity and accuracy should also be demonstrated as providers market their services to third-party payers.
Responsible advertising and self-regulation by those who offer mental health and substance abuse services and insurance benefits to families is essential to help ensure that decisions made will be in the best interest of the child and the family. We charge every service provider and health insurance carrier in the United States, and those who direct or influence the marketing programs of such providers and carriers, to exercise this responsibility faithfully and without exception as testimony to their professional ideals.
Effective PeriodThe Mental Health America Board of Directors approved this policy on June 11, 2000. It will remain in effect for five (5) years and is reviewed as required by the Mental Health America Executive Committee and Prevention and Children's Mental Health Services Committee. However, this policy was reviewed on December 10, 2005 and extended an additional three (3) years.Expiration: December 10, 2008 |
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