Racial/ethnic differences in treatment quality among youth with primary care provider-initiated versus mental health specialist-initiated care for major depressive disorders.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the racial/ethnic differences in treatment quality among youth with primary care provider-initiated versus mental health specialist-initiated care for major depressive disorders (MDD). METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the 2005-2007 Medicaid claims data from Texas. Youth aged 10-20 during the study period were identified if they had two consecutive MDD diagnoses and received either medications for MDD or psychotherapy. Patients who received ≥84 days of medications and/or ≥4 sessions of psychotherapy for MDD treatment during 4 months of follow-up were considered meeting the minimum adequacy of treatment. RESULTS: The generalized linear multilevel model (MLM) analysis revealed that both Hispanics and Blacks were approximately 30% less likely to receive adequate treatment (Hispanics - OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.6-0.8) (Blacks - OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.6-0.8) and Hispanic children were 50% more likely to undergo MH-related hospitalization (OR: 1.53; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2) compared to their White counterparts. The odds of meeting the minimum MDD treatment adequacy were comparable between pediatric MDD cases first identified by primary care providers (PCP-I) and psychiatrists (PSY-I) (PCP-I vs. PSY-I: OR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.8-1.2), and slightly lower in those first identified by social workers/psychologists (SWP-I) as compared to PSY-I (SWP-I vs. PSY-I: OR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.7-0.9). In all models, the interaction between race/ethnicity and type of provider who initiated MDD care was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Minority youths received less adequate MDD treatment compared to Whites. Hispanic children had the highest risk of having mental health-related hospitalization. The specialty of provider who initiated MDD care had limited impact on treatment quality and was not associated with the racial/ethnic variations in treatment completion and mental health-related hospitalizations.

Contextual Factors and Adoption of Strategies Related to Opioid Prescribing Practices in Healthcare Settings: Cross-Sectional Study.

This study aimed to examine the association between different contextual factors (e.g., facility size, rurality, and perceived needs) and the adoption of a policy or strategy related to opioid prescribing practices in healthcare settings. Cross-sectional survey data was collected from a convenience sample of physicians (N = 68). Logistic regression models were used to examine the effects of contextual factors on the dependent variables. Less than half reported having a policy restricting opioid prescribing practices, and 81% reported having one or more strategies for the safe use of chronic opioid therapy. After adjusting for other contextual factors, small practice size was positively associated with having a policy restricting opioid prescribing practices. This exploratory study provides insights for further investigation of how various contextual factors can influence policy adoption in different healthcare settings and practices to address major public health threats.

Differences in the attitudes towards the opioid crisis between metropolitan and rural counties in Central Texas: Secondary data analysis using cross-sectional data.

This study examined metropolitan and rural differences regarding concerns about opioid misuse and support for different strategies to reduce opioid use disorder risk in areas not designated as high-risk. This study used cross-sectional data from a regional community health assessment, which was collected in 2019 using a combination of stratified random sampling and clinic-based purposive sampling in Central Texas. The secondary data included 430 and 270 respondents from metropolitan and rural (not metropolitan) counties, respectively. The primary outcomes were perceived concern about the opioid crisis, perceived likelihood of getting addiction treatment, and support for strategies to reduce opioid use disorder risks. Multiple multivariable regression models were used to examine metropolitan and rural differences in the outcome variables after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, race, marital status, education, and household income. Respondents were about 58 years old on average. A majority were female (60%), non-Hispanic (88%), and White (83%). About 60% of rural and metropolitan respondents were concerned about opioid use and misuse in their community. After adjusting for respondents' demographic characteristics, rural respondents were significantly less likely to perceive that individuals are getting the needed opioid use disorder treatment (aOR = 0.69, P = 0.031). Rural respondents were also significantly less supportive for legalizing syringe service programs in their communities (aOR = 0.71, P = 0.044) than metropolitan respondents. Differing attitudes by respondents from metropolitan and rural areas indicate the importance of tailoring prevention and mitigation efforts to address opioid use disorder in advance of an impending public health crisis.

Physicians' interest in different strategies for supporting pain -management and opioid prescribing: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore physicians' attitudes toward different strategies for supporting pain management and opioid prescribing and to identify factors related to their attitudes toward the support strategies. Design/setting/participants/measures: This preliminary cross-sectional study collected and analyzed online survey responses from physicians in Texas and Minnesota (N = 69) between December 2017 and February 2018. Primary outcomes were physicians' interest in online continuing medical education (CME), mHealth patient monitoring system, and short, non-CME YouTube informational briefs about pain management and opioid prescribing. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between physicians' characteristics, attitudes, training, experience, practice setting, and their interest in three different support strategies. RESULTS: About 51-58 percent of physicians indicated moderate-to-extreme interest in online CME (54 percent), mHealth monitoring (58 percent), and short, non-CME YouTube informational briefs (51 percent). Physicians, who practiced in a medium or large practice setting, were less likely to be interested in online CME or short, non-CME YouTube informational briefs. Physicians who prescribed a small number of Schedule II opioids were more likely to be interested in short, non-CME YouTube informational briefs and mHealth monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that physicians may have different preferences in strategies for supporting their pain management and opioid prescribing practices. Future studies are needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying physicians' interest in different support strategies.

Physician Care Coordination and the Use of Psychotropic Polypharmacy in the Management of Pediatric Mental Disorders.

BACKGROUND: Psychotropic polypharmacy is a concern in the management of pediatric mental disorders due to the lack of pediatric data to support the practice. Although seeing multiple providers has been identified as an important predictor of polypharmacy, no study has yet assessed the effect of care coordination between providers on receipt of psychotropic polypharmacy. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the intensity of care coordination within a patient's care team and the likelihood of the patient receiving multiclass psychotropic polypharmacy. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted using the 2013-2015 administrative claims data from a Medicaid managed care organization (Texas Children's Health Plan). Children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger with a diagnosis of a mental/behavioral disorder and receipt of psychotropic prescriptions from multiple prescribers were included in the study. Psychotropic polypharmacy was defined as the receipt of 2 or more psychotropic medications from different drug classes concurrently for 60 days or more. Care coordination was measured using social network analysis (SNA), a new technique included in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Care Coordination Measures Atlas. Care density, an SNA surrogate for care coordination, was calculated as the ratio of the sum of patients shared by physician pairs within a patient's care team to the total number of physician pairs. The Andersen behavioral model was used to guide multivariate logistic regression analyses conducted to assess the association between care density and the likelihood of patients receiving psychotropic polypharmacy after controlling for predisposing and need factors. RESULTS: A total of 24,147 children and adolescents diagnosed with a mental/behavioral disorder were identified. About 34.0% (n = 8,092) of these individuals received psychotropic medications from multiple prescribers who were either primary care physicians (PCPs) or specialists. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between care density and the use of psychotropic polypharmacy. However, the direction of this relationship varied depending on the composition of the patient's care team. Among patients with only PCPs involved in their care team, patients in the higher care-density group were 28% less likely to receive psychotropic polypharmacy (OR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.62-0.96) than those in the lower care-density group. In contrast, among patients who had both PCPs and specialists involved in their care team, those in the higher care-density group were 2 times more likely to experience psychotropic polypharmacy (OR = 2.01; 95% CI = 1.68-2.40). Care density was not significantly associated with the receipt of psychotropic polypharmacy in the specialist-only group. CONCLUSIONS: This study found significant associations between care density and prescription of psychotropic polypharmacy. This relationship varied depending on the patient's diagnosis, disease complexity, and composition of the patient's care team. DISCLOSURES: No outside funding supported this study. The authors do not have any financial relationships or potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose. The abstract for part of this study, titled "Association Between Physician Care Coordination and the Use of Psychotropic Polypharmacy in the Management of Pediatric Mental Disorders," was selected as a silver medal abstract and was presented at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting 2017; March 27-30, 2017; Denver, CO.

Racial/ethnic differences in the treatment of adolescent major depressive disorders (MDD) across healthcare providers participating in the medicaid program.

BACKGROUND: To examine whether racial/ethnic differences in receipt of MDD treatment could be explained by the specialty of provider diagnosing the adolescent. METHOD: Adolescents (10-20 years-old) with ≥2 MDD diagnoses were identified using 2005-2007 Medicaid data from Texas. Patients were categorized based on the types of provider who gave the initial MDD diagnosis (psychiatrist (PSY-I), social worker/psychologist (SWP-I), and primary care physician (PCP-I)). Within the sub-cohorts identified by each type of provider, patients were further divided by racial/ethnic groups. RESULTS: Of the 13,234-new pediatric MDD cases diagnosed, 61% were SWP-I, 33% PSY-I and 6% PCP-I. Results of the analysis using general linear multi-level model showed that being first diagnosed by a psychiatrist was associated with higher chance of receiving MDD related treatment (PCP-I vs. PSY-I (OR: 0.54, 95%CI: 0.4-0.7) and SWP-I vs. PSY-I (OR: 0.17, 95%CI: 0.1-0.2)). Specifically, regarding the receipt of pharmacotherapy, an interaction effect was detected between types of identifying providers and patients' race/ethnicity. The analysis stratified by race/ethnicity found Whites received comparable treatment regardless being PCP-Is or PSY-Is, while for Hispanics, being first identified by a PCP was associated with lower likelihood of receiving treatment as compared to being first identified by a psychiatrist. Further analysis stratified by provider types showed that a significant racial/ethnic variation in medication utilization was observed in PCP-Is, but not in PSY-Is. CONCLUSION: For adolescents with MDD, being first diagnosed by a psychiatrist was associated with higher treatment rate and reduced racial/ethnic variation in the utilization of pharmacotherapy.