For Immediate Release
Contact: Erin Baker, Communications Director
202.966.7300, Ext. 119
ebaker@aacap.org
Adam Lowe, Communications Coordinator
202.966.7300, Ext. 154
alowe@aacap.org
Washington, DC, March 31, 2009 – The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are proud to introduce the position paper, “Improving Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Reducing Administrative and Financial Barriers to Access and Collaboration.” The paper illustrates the need to remove numerous financial and administrative barriers that primary care physicians face in providing behavioral and mental health treatment to the 1 in 5 children in the United States who suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder.1
“The acute shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists makes coordination of treatment between primary care physicians and child and adolescent psychiatrists paramount,” said AACAP President Robert Hendren, D.O. “Primary care physicians have unique strengths, skills, and opportunities to identify and address the vast unmet mental health needs of children and adolescents.”
The primary care setting is the ideal place to start children and adolescents’ mental health treatment because children’s mental health care can be fully coordinated with the child’s other health care. The majority of mental health problems that surface in primary care can be effectively treated by a pediatrician. Children and adolescents with common developmental and behavioral problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse can benefit from early identification and treatment.
Most children and adolescents living with mental illnesses who receive treatment do so by their primary care physicians, who identify about 19 percent of the children they see as having behavioral and emotional disorders.2 Insufficient payment by insurance purchasers, payers, and behavioral health organizations impedes their ability to provide comprehensive treatment. The AACAP and AAP support payment for primary care physicians’ assessment and treatment of childhood and adolescent mental illnesses and maintain that payment should be comparable for treating other medical illnesses.
“This is going to take a great deal of detailed work to communicate to stakeholders the need of paying primary care physicians fairly for necessary work,” said Alan Axelson, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist from Pittsburgh and member of AACAP’s Committee on Health Care Access and Economics (COHCAE).
Children whose problems do not improve with initial intervention and/or children with more serious or complex coexisting conditions require mental health specialty consultation, and often specialty treatment. AACAP’s, “When to Seek Referral or Consultation with a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist” details the guidelines related to the referral process.
Child and adolescent psychiatry is the medical specialty that comprehensively trains physicians to assess and treat children and adolescents’ mental illnesses. Only an average of 300 child and adolescent psychiatrists complete training each year. Overwhelming educational debt, pressure and incentives to pursue a primary care career, a long training period, and reimbursement problems discourage medical students from choosing child and adolescent psychiatry.3
Without intervention, child and adolescent mental illnesses frequently continue into adulthood. Children and adolescents who do not receive treatment often experience academic failure, poor employment opportunities, and poverty into adulthood.
“Our health care system has become increasingly difficult for parents to navigate. This is especially true when it comes to accessing mental health treatment,” said child and adolescent psychiatrist and Committee on Health Care Access and Economics (COHCAE) member Michael Houston, M.D. “This collaborative effort between the AAP and the AACAP is a step toward clearing away the administrative disparities and roadblocks parents encounter as they struggle to address the psychiatric and emotional needs of their children and adolescents. If the recommendations made here are adopted by policy makers and insurers, there is no reason why appropriate mental health care could not be within reach for every American family.”
Click here to download “Improving Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Reducing Administrative and Financial Barriers to Access and Collaboration.” This paper was supported by the Improving Mental Heath in Primary Care Through Access, Collaboration, and Training (IMPACT) grant (G95MC05434) that was awarded to the AAP in 2005 from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
For more information contact Erin Baker in AACAP’s Communications office at 202.977.7300, ext. 119, ebaker@aacap.org.
References:
Representing over 7,400 child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is the leading authority on children's mental health. AACAP members actively research, diagnose, and treat psychiatric disorders affecting children, adolescents, and their families.
AACAP Mission: The Mission of the AACAP is the promotion of mentally healthy children, adolescents and families through research, training, advocacy, prevention, comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, peer support and collaboration.
Contact: Erin Baker, Communications Director
202.966.7300, Ext. 119
ebaker@aacap.org
Adam Lowe, Communications Coordinator
202.966.7300, Ext. 154
alowe@aacap.org
Washington, DC, March 31, 2009 – The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are proud to introduce the position paper, “Improving Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Reducing Administrative and Financial Barriers to Access and Collaboration.” The paper illustrates the need to remove numerous financial and administrative barriers that primary care physicians face in providing behavioral and mental health treatment to the 1 in 5 children in the United States who suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder.1
“The acute shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists makes coordination of treatment between primary care physicians and child and adolescent psychiatrists paramount,” said AACAP President Robert Hendren, D.O. “Primary care physicians have unique strengths, skills, and opportunities to identify and address the vast unmet mental health needs of children and adolescents.”
The primary care setting is the ideal place to start children and adolescents’ mental health treatment because children’s mental health care can be fully coordinated with the child’s other health care. The majority of mental health problems that surface in primary care can be effectively treated by a pediatrician. Children and adolescents with common developmental and behavioral problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse can benefit from early identification and treatment.
Most children and adolescents living with mental illnesses who receive treatment do so by their primary care physicians, who identify about 19 percent of the children they see as having behavioral and emotional disorders.2 Insufficient payment by insurance purchasers, payers, and behavioral health organizations impedes their ability to provide comprehensive treatment. The AACAP and AAP support payment for primary care physicians’ assessment and treatment of childhood and adolescent mental illnesses and maintain that payment should be comparable for treating other medical illnesses.
“This is going to take a great deal of detailed work to communicate to stakeholders the need of paying primary care physicians fairly for necessary work,” said Alan Axelson, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist from Pittsburgh and member of AACAP’s Committee on Health Care Access and Economics (COHCAE).
Children whose problems do not improve with initial intervention and/or children with more serious or complex coexisting conditions require mental health specialty consultation, and often specialty treatment. AACAP’s, “When to Seek Referral or Consultation with a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist” details the guidelines related to the referral process.
Child and adolescent psychiatry is the medical specialty that comprehensively trains physicians to assess and treat children and adolescents’ mental illnesses. Only an average of 300 child and adolescent psychiatrists complete training each year. Overwhelming educational debt, pressure and incentives to pursue a primary care career, a long training period, and reimbursement problems discourage medical students from choosing child and adolescent psychiatry.3
Without intervention, child and adolescent mental illnesses frequently continue into adulthood. Children and adolescents who do not receive treatment often experience academic failure, poor employment opportunities, and poverty into adulthood.
“Our health care system has become increasingly difficult for parents to navigate. This is especially true when it comes to accessing mental health treatment,” said child and adolescent psychiatrist and Committee on Health Care Access and Economics (COHCAE) member Michael Houston, M.D. “This collaborative effort between the AAP and the AACAP is a step toward clearing away the administrative disparities and roadblocks parents encounter as they struggle to address the psychiatric and emotional needs of their children and adolescents. If the recommendations made here are adopted by policy makers and insurers, there is no reason why appropriate mental health care could not be within reach for every American family.”
Click here to download “Improving Mental Health Services in Primary Care: Reducing Administrative and Financial Barriers to Access and Collaboration.” This paper was supported by the Improving Mental Heath in Primary Care Through Access, Collaboration, and Training (IMPACT) grant (G95MC05434) that was awarded to the AAP in 2005 from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
For more information contact Erin Baker in AACAP’s Communications office at 202.977.7300, ext. 119, ebaker@aacap.org.
References:
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, 1999.
- The President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. 2003. Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America. Rockville, MD.
- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). 2008. Health Care Reform Principles. Washington, D.C.: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
###
Representing over 7,400 child and adolescent psychiatrists nationwide, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is the leading authority on children's mental health. AACAP members actively research, diagnose, and treat psychiatric disorders affecting children, adolescents, and their families.
AACAP Mission: The Mission of the AACAP is the promotion of mentally healthy children, adolescents and families through research, training, advocacy, prevention, comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, peer support and collaboration.
