Adolescent Psychiatric Analysis

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The need for child mental health services exceeds the availability of child and adolescent psychiatrists in The United States. . Recent changes in healthcare policy have improved insurance coverage for mental serves, likely further increasing the number of children seeking mental health treatment. With the national shift towards population medicine, it will be even more imperative to integrate psychological screening and evidenced based mental health treatments into mainstream medicine and develop efficient models of care that emphasize early detection and intervention in primary care settings. In response to these national trends as well as the local shortage of qualified pediatric mental health professionals, The Division of Child and…show more content…
Patients were scheduled if appropriate for the primary care site or directed to Behavioral Health Clinic for assessment of serious emotional disturbances that would clearly require long term psychiatric care (e.g schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and low functioning ASD) . After psychiatric consultation, we provided pediatricians with referral recommendations and, if indicated, clear guidance on beginning and titrating medication We offered 1 hour a month lectures on relevant topics in child and adolescent psychiatry. Outcome measures were planned to include: satisfaction ratings from referring pediatric staff and participating families, wait times for receipt of behavioral health services and the total number of behavioral health visits in medical settings were also…show more content…
The clinic was modified from a consultation clinic to an Assessment Clinic and we now offer brief follow up by child psychiatrist if indicated to help with medication management of more complex patients before the patient returns to a primary provider. Child Psychiatry faculty also started providing ongoing phone consultation as well as live-in services to the pediatric providers at the primary care site. In our experience, the availability of shared electronic medical records was essential to communication between psychiatrist and pediatrician and to the close collaboration and adjustment of the existing model necessary to ensure sustainability of the model. Identifying point person at the pediatric and psychiatry sites and regularly scheduled meetings and adjustment of the scope of the program as issue arise in necessary for the success of the Collaborative
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