The Heller School Faculty and Staff

Senior Scientist

merrick@brandeis.edu Heller 261 781-736-3917

Expertise

Behavioral health

Scholarship

  • Hodgkin D, Merrick EL, Horgan CM, Garnick DW. Does type of gatekeeping model affect access to specialty mental health services? Health Services Research (forthcoming).
  • Merrick EL, Horgan CM, Hodgkin D, Garnick DW. Managed Care Organizations’ Use of Treatment Management Strategies for Outpatient Mental Health Care, Administration and Policy in Mental Health 2006;33(1):104-114.
  • Tompkins C, Merrick EL, Reif S, Horgan CM. The Behavioral Health Workforce: Financing Issues. Report commissioned by the Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce, December 2005.
  • Merrick EL, Horgan CM, Garnick DW, Hodgkin D, Keck K, and Cenczyk RE. The EAP/behavioral health carve-out connection. Employee Assistance Quarterly 2003;18(3):1-14.
  • Horgan CM, Merrick EL, Garnick D, Hodgkin D. Alcohol and drug services under managed care: Getting into specialty treatment. In Magura S, Horgan CM, Mertens JS, Shepard DS, Effects of managed care on alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 2002: 26(3):416-422.
  • Garnick DW, Lee MT, Chalk M, Gastfriend DR, Horgan CM, McCorry F, McLellan AT, Merrick EL. Establishing the feasibility of performance measures for alcohol and other drugs. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 2002; 23:375-385.
  • Merrick EL, Garnick DW, Horgan CM, Hodgkin D. Quality measurement and accountability for substance abuse and mental health services in managed care organizations. Medical Care 2002; 40(12)1238-1248.
  • Hodgkin D, Horgan CM, Garnick DW, Merrick EL. Quality standards and incentives in managed care organizations' specialty contracts for behavioral health. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, 2002;5:61-69.
  • Garnick DW, Horgan CM, Merrick EL, Hodgkin D, Faulkner D and Bryson S. Managed care plans’ requirements for screening for alcohol, drug and mental health problems in primary care. American Journal of Managed Care. 2002; 8(10):879-888.
  • Horgan C, and Merrick EL. Financing of Substance Abuse Treatment Services. In: Recent Developments in Alcoholism, Vol. XV: Services Research in the Era of Managed Care. M Galanter (Ed.). New York: Plenum Publishing. 2001.
  • Merrick EL, Garnick DW, Horgan CM, Goldin D, Hodgkin D, and Sciegaj M. Benefits in behavioral health carve-out plans of Fortune 500 firms. Psychiatric Services 2001; 52:943-948.
  • Horgan CM, Garnick DW, Merrick EL, Hodgkin D, Sciegaj M, and Goldin D. Structuring behavioral health care: carved-out or integrated? Compensation & Benefits Management 2000; 16(4):39-46.
  • Merrick EL. Garnick D, Horgan C, Goldin D, Hodgkin D, and Sciegaj M. Use of performance standards in behavioral health carve-out contracts among Fortune 500 firms. American Journal of Managed Care 1999; 5:SP81-SP90.
  • Merrick EL. Effects of a behavioral health carve-out on inpatient-related quality indicators for major depression treatment. Medical Care. 1999; 37 (10): 1023-1033.
  • Merrick EL. Treatment of major depression before and after implementation of a behavioral health carve-out program. Psychiatric Services. 1998; 49 (12): 1563-1567.
  • Callahan JJ, and Merrick EL. Designing Public Sector Managed Care Systems. In: Managed Mental Health Care in the Public Sector. K Minkoff and D Pollack (Eds.). Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers. 1997.
Elizabeth Levy Merrick

Profile

A scientist in the Institute for Behavioral Health, Dr. Merrick is a clinical social worker with a doctorate in social policy/health services research. Her research focuses on mental health and substance abuse services, with an emphasis on managed care, quality and access to treatment. Currently, Dr. Merrick is principal investigator of an NIAAA-funded study examining the relationship between alcohol consumption patterns and quality of medical care among elders. She is also research project principal investigator for a component study of the NIDA Brandeis/Harvard Research Center on Managed Care and Drug Abuse Treatment that examines how managed behavioral health plan features may affect access and utilization.

In addition, she has studied and published work on topics including the relationship between health plan organizational characteristics and depression treatment performance measures; private health plans' provision of behavioral health services; effects of increasing direct access to specialty mental health care; Fortune 500 companies' behavioral health benefits; effects of a behavioral health carve-out on treatment of depression; and behavioral health performance measures and consumer surveys.

Degrees

The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
Ph.D.

Smith College
M.S.W.

Tufts University
B.A.