TY - JOUR
T1 - The Relationship Between Linkages to Behavioral Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care and Reductions in Non-urgent Emergency Department Visits Among Vulnerable Children
AU - Pethe, Kalpana
AU - Maldonado-Soto, Angel R.
AU - Saxena, Juhi
AU - Blanck, Evelyn J.
AU - Lingras, Katherine A.
AU - Aratani, Yumiko
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, National Council for Behavioral Health.
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - The integration of behavioral health (BH) services within pediatric primary care has been utilized as a way to address young children’s social-emotional needs. This study aimed to examine whether linking at-risk young children to BH services is associated with a reduction in “non-urgent” emergency department (ED) visits. BH teams integrated in a pediatric clinic conducted socio-emotional screening in children 6–65 months of age and tracked ED utilization for children with positive screening. The results indicated that children with positive screening are less likely to have a non-urgent ED visit than children with negative screening with concerns (NWC) and are more likely to be connected to services. Among children in the NWC group, those connected to services were less likely to have non-urgent ED visits than those not connected to services. These findings suggest that integrated behavioral health care has the potential to reduce non-urgent ED visits among at-risk children.
AB - The integration of behavioral health (BH) services within pediatric primary care has been utilized as a way to address young children’s social-emotional needs. This study aimed to examine whether linking at-risk young children to BH services is associated with a reduction in “non-urgent” emergency department (ED) visits. BH teams integrated in a pediatric clinic conducted socio-emotional screening in children 6–65 months of age and tracked ED utilization for children with positive screening. The results indicated that children with positive screening are less likely to have a non-urgent ED visit than children with negative screening with concerns (NWC) and are more likely to be connected to services. Among children in the NWC group, those connected to services were less likely to have non-urgent ED visits than those not connected to services. These findings suggest that integrated behavioral health care has the potential to reduce non-urgent ED visits among at-risk children.
KW - Behavioral health problems
KW - Emergency department utilization
KW - Integrated behavioral health services
KW - Pediatric primary care
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U2 - 10.1007/s11414-019-09683-3
DO - 10.1007/s11414-019-09683-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 31875281
AN - SCOPUS:85077154075
SN - 1094-3412
VL - 47
SP - 377
EP - 387
JO - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
JF - Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
IS - 3
ER -