Development of a Telehealth Coordinated Intervention to Improve Access to CommunityBased Mental Health

Objective To develop an intervention to improve the mental health referral and care process for children referred by primary care providers (PCPs) to community mental health clinics (MHCs) using a community partnered approach. Design A Project Working Group (PWG) with representatives from each partner organization met monthly for 6 months. Setting Multi-site federally qualified health center (FQHC) and two community MHCs in Los Angeles county. Participants 26 stakeholders (14 FQHC clinic providers/staff, 8 MHC providers/staff, 4 parents) comprised the PWG. Data Sources Qualitative interviews, PWG meeting notes, intervention processes and workflow reports. Intervention The PWG reviewed qualitative data from stakeholders (interviews of 7 parents and 13 providers/staff). The PWG met monthly to identify key transition points where access to and coordination of care were likely compromised and to develop solutions. Results Three critical transition points and system solutions were identified: 1) Parents refuse initial referral to the MHC due to stigma regarding mental health services. Solution: During initial referral, parents watch a video introducing them to the MHC. 2) Parents don’t complete the MHC’s screening after referral. Solution: A live videoconference session connecting parents at the FQHC with MHC staff ensures completion of the screening and eligibility process. 3) PCPs reject transfer of patients back to primary care for ongoing psychotropic medication management. Solution: Regularly scheduled live videoconferences connect PCPs and MHC providers. Conclusions A community partnered approach to care design utilizing telehealth for care coordination between clinics can potentially be used to address key challenges in MHC access for children.</p

A Telehealth-Enhanced Referral Process in Pediatric Primary Care: A Cluster Randomized Trial

      OBJECTIVES: To improve the mental health (MH) referral process for children referred from primary care to community mental health clinics (CMHCs) by using a community-partnered approach.  METHODS: Our partners were a multisite federally qualified health center and 2 CMHCs in Los Angeles County. We randomly assigned 6 federally qualified health center clinics to the intervention or as a control and implemented a newly developed telehealth-enhanced referral process (video orientation to the CMHC and a live videoconference CMHC screening visit) for all MH referrals from the intervention clinics. Our primary outcome was CMHC access defined by completion of the initial access point for referral (CMHC screening visit). We used multivariate logistic and linear regression to examine intervention impact on our primary outcome. To accommodate the cluster design, we used mixed-effect regression models.  RESULTS: A total of 342 children ages 5 to 12 were enrolled; 86.5% were Latino, 61.7% were boys, and the mean age at enrollment was 8.6 years. Children using the telehealth-enabled referral process had 3 times the odds of completing the initial CMHC screening visit compared with children who were referred by using usual care procedures (80.49% vs 64.04%; adjusted odds ratio 3.02 [95% confidence interval 1.47 to 6.22]). Among children who completed the CMHC screening visit, intervention participants took 6.6 days longer to achieve it but also reported greater satisfaction with the referral system compared with controls. Once this initial access point in referral was completed, .80% of eligible intervention and control participants (174 of 213) went on to an MH visit.  CONCLUSIONS: A novel telehealth-enhanced referral process developed by using a community- partnered approach improved initial access to CMHCs for children referred from primary care. </p