Measuring follow-up care between primary care and specialty behavioral health settings for children and adolescents
Lynch, S., Witt, W., Ali, M. M., Teich, J., Mutter, R., Gibbons, B., & Walsh, C. (2019). Measuring follow-up care between primary care and specialty behavioral health settings for children and adolescents. Social Work in Mental Health, 17(5), 627-638. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2019.1617224
Although children’s behavioral health conditions are regularly presented in primary care, studies of follow-up care that is provided in a specialty behavioral health setting are few. This study measured follow-up care by extracting claims from the Marketscan Medicaid and Commercial databases for outpatient services and prescription drugs for youth aged 2 through 18 years during 2014. Analyses examined whether follow-up care occurred within 28 days. The total percentage of children who received follow-up care was 12.9% (Medicaid) and 13.5% (private insurance). Follow-up care rates are low for the measure. Study findings suggest that additional research is needed in this area.
