Linking the Public Care System and the Private Practitioner: A Study in the Use of Contracts

Patients in private practice settings frequently need services such as day hospitalization or vocational rehabilitation, which cannot be provided in a private office. Such services have been demonstrated to be effective and should be available to all patients when clinically indicated. Patients in the public sector are similarly in need of treatment modalities that are not readily available in public facilities; examples include long-term individual psychotherapy and outpatient electroconvulsive therapy. The authors present a contractual model for bridging these gaps. Using case reports, they demonstrate the utility of contracts between public and private providers.