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An Action Research Project |
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“Some clients have refused to fill it out… “ |
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Why Not the TOP? |
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On May 1, 2007, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) sent a letter to therapists saying, “Addressing … gaps (in the quality of (mental health) care) requires the ability to measure the quality of care.” They are imposing on clients and therapists a measurement system called the Treatment Outcomes Package (TOP).
NOTICE: On January 1, 2009, after 19 months, BCBSMA announced that they would be ending use of the TOP. They explain that the program was designed to “Help improve our members’ care by giving providers an objective tool to measure outcomes…” and that “the program has not generated the anticipated results…” They explain that they had hoped that use of the TOP would lead to the use of Case Consultation by BCBSMA, which they hoped would lead to a reduction in hospitalizations. This did not occur. Ironically, BCBSMA does not pay for therapists to do case consultations for children and teens. BCBSMA went on to say that they “will continue to collaborate with our providers…to develop meaningful performance measures”. For now, I will leave this site up to support research on this topic.
(continuation of original web site text) For many therapists and their clients, TOP violates client privacy and invades the client—therapist relationship. Some clients have refused to fill it out. Some therapists have taken action to question the TOP but so far, BCBSMA has ignored expressed concerns. Clients and therapists will need to get involved to protect privacy, control over therapy, the therapy relationship, and the confidentiality of client data (see questions).
Read detailed information about the TOP extracted from what has been written by BCBSMA and the people who manage the TOP, Behavioral Health Laboratories (BHL)
Read detailed questions about the TOP which we would like answered.
Read what people have already said to BCBSMA and their response.
Read letters that people have written expressing their sentiments.
Follow links to the BCBSMA and BHL web sites.
Read about how to contact and help us.
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