Connecticut's enhanced care clinic initiative: Early returns from pediatric–behavioral health partnerships.

Abstract

As many as 15 million children and adolescents in the United States are in need of behavioral health services, and it is often the pediatric primary care system that is their first contact with formal assessment and intervention services. However, pediatric primary care providers (PPCPs) face challenges to assessing and managing children with behavioral health concerns, including lack of time, lack of training, and lack of behavioral health specialists to whom they can refer. The Connecticut Behavioral Health Partnership has forged relationships between primary care and behavioral health providers through its enhanced care clinic (ECC) initiative, which focuses on improved access to behavioral health services and coordination of care for children insured by Medicaid. We report on interviews with 24 PPCPs and 8 staff/administrators from 12 pediatric practices throughout the state about their experiences with the ECCs. The majority of participants expressed satisfaction with the behavioral health partnerships and, based on their experience, would join the partnership again.