Managed Care
Managed care and other health care provider networks should strive to improve their LGBT sensitivity.
• Managed care organizations’ (MCOs’) panels of providers should include LGBT providers and LGBT-sensitive providers.
• LGBT medical and professional organizations should request that MCOs include LGBT providers and an LGBT category as a recognized subgroup of the health insurance plan.
• Managed behavioral health care organizations should be able to inform case workers of subcategories of providers; for example, a caseworker should have enough information to be able to refer a client to substance abuse treatment services that are identified as LGBT sensitive.
• LGBT programs should join other networks to ensure culturally competent services.
• Service purchasers such as MCOs, health maintenance organizations, and employee assistance programs should identify and use resources for providing culturally competent substance abuse treatment services to LGBT clients.
Program Planning
• Program administrators, counselor training program directors, and substance abuse treatment educators should encourage planning for and implementation of training programs to serve substance-abusing LGBT clients.
• Once an LGBT-sensitive program is established, providers should develop programs for drugs such as cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, and other addictive drugs that are challenging to treat.
Quality Assurance
To ensure high-quality treatment:
• Providers should evaluate their programs. They should collect appropriate demographic data to establish baseline information about LGBT clients. They should design and implement appropriate client satisfaction measures that provide specific feedback about how well the organization is serving LGBT clients.
• Community services personnel, professional associations, and others engaged in training mental health and social work professionals and support staff should review and revise their existing policies to reflect LGBT needs.