3.0 AACAP Norbert and Charlotte Rieger Service Program Award for ExcellenceImproving Primary Care Access and Quality of Care for Children with Mental Health Needs: The Child and adolescent Psychiatry for Primary Care CAP PC Experience

Abstract

Although child mental health problems are widespread, few get adequate treatment and there is a severe shortage of child psychiatrists. To address this public health need, many states have adopted collaborative care programs to assist primary care providers to better assess and manage pediatric mental health concerns. This report adds to the small literature on collaborative care programs and describes one large program that covers most of the state of New York. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for Primary Care, a component program of New York State’s Office of Mental Health (OMH) Project Treatment Education Activists Combating HIV (TEACH), has provided education and consultation support to primary care providers in 90 percent of New York State since 2010. The program is a uniquely designed collaboration of five medical schools with hubs at each site that shares one toll-free number and works together to provide education and consultation support services to primary care physicians (PCPs).