The Relationship Between Linkages to Behavioral Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care and Reductions in Non-urgent Emergency Department Visits Among Vulnerable Children

• Published in: The journal of behavioral health services & research 2020-07, Vol.47 (3), p.377-387
• Main Authors: Pethe, Kalpana, Maldonado-Soto, Angel R., Saxena, Juhi, Blanck, Evelyn J., Lingras, Katherine A., Aratani, Yumiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: At risk populations; At risk youth; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - epidemiology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Community and Environmental Psychology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration; Developmental Disabilities - epidemiology; Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Emergency services; Emotions; Female; Health behavior; Health Informatics; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health Psychology; Health services; Humans; Infant; Integrated care; Male; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Disorders - diagnosis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental health services; New York - epidemiology; Pediatrics; Primary care; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Psychiatry; Public Health; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; Socioeconomic Factors; Teams; Tests; Visits; Vulnerable Populations
• ISSN: 1094-3412; 1556-3308
• DOI: 10.1007/s11414-019-09683-3

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.