Driving Access and Quality: A Shift to Value-Based Behavioral Health Care.

Multiple barriers exist to accessing behavioral health care, and several are related to payment. The national shortage of behavioral health providers is exacerbated by their not joining health insurance networks, often shifting the cost of treatment to patients. In the face of high out-of-network expenses, deductibles, and copays, many insured patients forgo behavioral health treatment altogether. However, even when patients access care, health outcomes are not routinely measured, and there is reason to suspect that the quality of care is poor. To address these issues, value-based reimbursement for behavioral health care offers a sustainable pathway to increase payment for providers in return for improved population health outcomes and costs. This article describes a comprehensive collaborative effort between a payer and a health care technology and services organization to support behavioral health providers to enter into value-based care. This approach changes financial incentives to drive improvements in behavioral health care access and quality.

Care Coordination for Youth With Mental Health Disorders in Primary Care.

Many children are treated for mental health disorders in primary care settings. The system of care (SOC) provides a framework for collaboration among pediatric mental health providers, but it is unclear if youth treated for mental health disorders in primary care receive such coordination. At the South Boston Community Health Center from September /2012 to August 2013 for 74 individuals ≤18 years, the odds of contact with SOC agencies (mental health, education, child protective services, juvenile justice and developmental disabilities) were compared for mental health treatment in primary versus specialty care. The odds of SOC contact within primary care were lower compared to specialty care (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.29-0.66), specifically for mental health (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.25-1.2), education (OR = 0.12, 95% CI = 0.050-0.28), and child protective services (OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.22-1.9). As care coordination may improve health outcomes, increased support and education for care coordination specific to youth treated for mental health disorders in primary care settings may be warranted.

Preliminary Outcomes from an Integrated Pediatric Mental Health Outpatient Clinic.

An estimated 1 in 5 children in the United States meet criteria for a diagnosable mental disorder, yet fewer than 20% receive mental health services. Unmet need for psychiatric treatment may contribute to patterns of increasing use of the emergency department. This article describes an integrated pediatric evaluation center designed to prevent the need for treatment in emergency settings by increasing access to timely and appropriate care for emergent and critical mental health needs. Preliminary results showed that the center provided rapid access to assessment and treatment services for children and adolescents presenting with a wide range of psychiatric concerns.

Payment for Integrated Care: Challenges and Opportunities.

A multidisciplinary team approach to care and robust care coordination services are primary components of almost all integrated care delivery systems. Given that these services have limited reimbursement in fee-for-service payment arrangements, integrating care in a fee-for-service environment is almost impossible. Capitated payment models hold promise for supporting integrated behavioral and physical health services. There are multiple national examples of integrated care delivery systems supported by capitated payment arrangements.

Developing a Pipeline for the Community-Based Primary Care Workforce and Its Leadership: The Kraft Center for Community Health Leadership's Fellowship and Practitioner Programs.

PROBLEM: Community health centers (CHCs) face challenges recruiting and retaining primary care clinicians. Providing advanced training that enhances clinical skills within a public health framework, teaches leadership, protects time for scholarly activities, and focuses on the social mission may be a successful career development strategy. APPROACH: In July 2012, the Kraft Center for Community Health Leadership developed and implemented two 2-year programs to develop physician and nursing leaders with blended academic-community career paths and identities. The fellowship program for physicians and the practitioner program for early-career physicians and advanced practice nurses include mentored practice in a CHC; monthly learning days; completion of a community-based research project; and, for fellows, matriculation in an MPH program and engagement in a bimonthly leadership seminar. OUTCOMES: The first classes of 5 fellows and 14 practitioners graduated in June 2014. All 5 fellowship graduates were offered full-time positions at the CHCs where they practiced, and 2 have accepted leadership positions at their CHCs. All 14 practitioner graduates remain in community health, 5 have accepted leadership positions, and 2 have obtained grants to support ongoing projects. NEXT STEPS: The authors are tracking graduates' career paths and the programs' impact on CHCs while modifying the programs on the basis of feedback; identifying elements of the programs that may be amenable to more cost-effective delivery; and exploring the potential for federal funding to support expansion of the practitioner program, and for the practitioner program to increase the return on investment provided by the National Health Service Corps.

Clinicians' utilization of child mental health telephone consultation in primary care: findings from Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined utilization of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project, a mental health telephone consultation service for primary care, hypothesizing that greater use would be related to severe psychiatric diagnoses and polypharmacy. METHODS: The authors examined the association between utilization, defined as the mean number of contacts per patient during the 180 days following the initial contact (July 2008-June 2009), and characteristics of the initial contact, including consultation question, the child's primary mental health problem, psychotropic medication regimen, insurance status, and time of year. RESULTS: Utilization (N=4,436 initial contacts, mean=3.83 contacts) was associated with initial contacts about medication management, polypharmacy, public and private health insurance, and time of year. The child's primary mental health problem did not predict utilization. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone consultation services address treatment with psychotropic medications, particularly polypharmacy. Joint public-private funding should be considered for such public programs that serve privately insured children.

Medico-legal risk associated with pediatric mental health telephone consultation programs.

Clinicians providing consultation through mental health telephone consultation programs express concern about the potential legal risk of the practice. In this survey of six state mental health telephone consultation program directors, we report the annual number of children referred for consultation and the number of lawsuits against consultant clinicians. Between 2004 and 2010, 3,652 children per year were referred nationally, and there were no medical malpractice lawsuits against clinicians related to telephone consultation program activity. Although medico-legal risk is always present, the findings of this national study suggest the risk for clinicians providing mental health telephone consultation may be lower than perceived.