Introduction:

While discussing general health care, behavioral healthcare has been combined with managed care and integrated systems. This paper focuses on the role of managed care and integrated health systems in behavioral healthcare service delivery. Furthermore, the paper mentions significant figures in behavior therapy and cognitive therapy together with managed care implications. Moreover, the paper also discusses what managed care is and where it has been applied particularly in behavioral health services.

Key Theorists and Brief Descriptions:

Key Theorist in Behavioral Therapy: B.F. Skinner

B.F Skinner is widely considered a father of behavior therapy, this work laid the fundamentals for understanding human behavior and developing effective therapeutic approaches to numerous psychological disorders. Skinner proposes behavioral therapy that centers on the modification of improper behaviors through positive reinforcement (Nakao et al., 2021). However, at the heart of this is Skinner’s theory on operant conditioning which presents that behavior is influenced by outcomes.

Skinner is among the other means of behavior modification including positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. Specific behavior refers to positive reinforcement and the removal of stimuli is negative reinforcement (Nakao et al., 2021). On the contrary, punishment can be defined as administering penalties to deter unwanted behaviors.

The above interventions are widely used for behavioral therapy and demonstrate how external factors influence a change in behaviors. Due to that, the evidence-based approaches focused on manifest behaviors are derived from behavioral therapy and hence a necessity for managed care as well as integrated health systems.

Key Theorist in Cognitive Therapy: Aaron T. Beck

Aaron Beck is a major figure in cognitive therapy and he greatly influenced what psychotherapy should be about. The attention is here shifted to the identification and replacement of those negative thoughts which in turn causes emotional distress along with dysfunctional behavior. Beck’s therapy is based on the principle of the cognitive model, which states that thoughts and interpretations define emotions and behavior (Nakao et al., 2017). Under this theory, one’s self-concept about his reality is an affective state. In cognitive therapy, the therapist and client work together to find distorted or irrational thoughts. These include dichotomous thinking, overgeneralization, and catastrophizing. As a result of the elimination of these false beliefs, people will have more balanced thought processes.

Furthermore, cognitive therapy allows for the development of more beneficial patterns of thinking. People can develop good emotional health and engage in positive behaviors when they substitute irrational concepts that are destructive with rational ones (Nakao et al., 2021). The objective of cognitive therapy being incorporated into managed care is systematic and result-oriented. Cognitive therapy lays out specific techniques and processing methods that can be easily done and measured by the clients. This activity is consistent with managed care ideals of treatment outcome measurement and its reliance on evidence-based practice.

Behavioral and Cognitive Approaches in Managed Care:

The managed care principles are quite consistent with the behavioral and cognitive therapies because they emphasize evidence-based treatment as well as outcomes. It involves cost-effective and effective healthcare treatments in which behavioral or cognitive therapy provides structured time – time-limited interventions that are easily measurable, monitorable as well evaluatable.

Behavioral Approaches in Managed Care:

One of the methods for behavior management that can easily be applied in managed care settings is operant conditioning by Skinner. These are distinct methodologies having performance measures. Consequently, managed care incorporates evidence-based health practices as well as quantifiable objectives. For instance, managed care may decide to reward with medication or therapy session attendance. These programs encourage people to do certain things for better treatment compliance, leading and improved overall wellness. On the other hand, combining behavioral approaches and managed care enables physicians to address behavior-related issues while assessing their performance in reaching treatment target goals thereby improving quality as well as outcome effectiveness ratings for services offered.

Cognitive Approaches in Managed Care:

In particular, cognitive therapies such as Beck’s Cognitive Therapy are especially relevant wit