Rights and Responsibilities in Behavioral Healthcare: For Clinical Social Workers, Consumers, and Third Parties

Abstract

This publication describes the elements of effective behavioral healthcare and the rights and responsibilities of the participants involved in its delivery: the client as consumer, the practitioner, and the third-party entity. After a thorough review of three-party interactions, the Center for Clinical Social Work, Inc., concludes that client need should be the driving force in the provision of services; to that end, the ethical means for delivering competent behavioral healthcare are herein identified and discussed.

Introduction

Recognizing that an effective health delivery system requires the collaboration of its various elements, the Center for Clinical Social Work, Inc. (The Center), publishes this position statement to set standards for the delivery of competent care by clinical social workers and to describe the rights and responsibilities of the three parties (client as consumer, practitioner, third-party entity) involved in that care.

After thoroughly reviewing the ethical obligations(i) and administrative realities involved in complex three-party interactions (ii), we conclude that client need should be the driving force in the provision of behavioral health services and that ethics codes should protect clients in their interactions with payers and care administrators as well as with practitioners.

We offers this statement in hopes that all three parties will find it a valuable resource for mutual understanding and for improving the delivery of behavioral healthcare. Speaking for clinical social work, the Center invites a continuing dialogue with other healthcare practitioners, care administrators and payers, consumers of services, and governmental entities shaping policy and considering legislation that affect service delivery. Representatives of any responsible party are welcome