Correlates of preparedness among MSW students for ethical behavior in US managed care environments

This exploratory study surveyed Florida students (n=116) in two graduate social work (MSW) programs to determine correlates of their preparedness for ethical behavior in US managed care environments. Three variables were identified from a standard regression model that account for 45.2% of the adjusted variance. These predictor variables include: (a) knowledge of managed care environments (Beta=0.460, p=0.000), (b) understanding utilization review processes (Beta=0.299, p=0.000), and (c) fear of lawsuits (Beta=0.080, p=0.295). Other findings indicate that most respondents believed that US managed care companies dictate the types of services that clients can receive (69%) and are more interested in profits than clients (68.1%). MSW students who had greater social work experience felt more prepared for US managed care environments than did MSW students with little or no previous social work experience (X²=13.017, df=4, p=0.011). While most respondents felt adequately prepared for a social work career (74.1%), students who had field experiences in private-for-profit sites felt more capable of advocating for clients in managed care environments (X²=14.558, df=4, p=0.006), more capable of highlighting client aspects that result in authorization for services ( X²=10.246, df=4, p=0.036), and understood that clients must demonstrate serious need for service authorization ( X²=9.831, df=4, p=0.043). Implications are discussed.