Mental health services utilization in a children's mental health managed care demonstration.

Service delivery under two systems of care--a traditional Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) reimbursement system and an innovative continuum of care--was examined along six dimensions: access, type, mix, volume, timing, and continuity of services received by children and adolescents. It was found that the Demonstration served over three times as many children as the Comparison. In addition to serving more children, the Demonstration also provided more and different types of services to each child treated. Finally, the Demonstration appears to have delivered services in a more timely fashion and made a considerable effort to match children's and families' needs with services.