Getting access to child mental health services isn’t easy, even when armed with a big list of names provided by an prominent insurance company. A group of researchers recently published the results of an interesting study in which the authors called the offices of pediatricians and child psychiatrists while posing as the parent of a […]
Vermont Legislature Busy with Mental Health Bills
Vermont’s 2017 legislation session is in full swing and this year there seems to be an unusually large number of bills that have direct impact on mental health. What follows is a short list and update of the legislation as well as a few personal thoughts. Improvements to the state mental health system (S90). The […]
ACOs and Psychiatric Care: New Threat or New Opportunity?
Like many physicians of all specialties, I’m not exactly sure what to make of the proposal for an all-payer ACO model of healthcare for Vermont. For someone who has spent the vast majority of time doing clinical work, teaching, and research, the prospect of fully understanding the plan seems like a full-time job. The Vermont […]
Tags: ACO, all-payer, fee-for-service, mental health care, psychiatric care
Enhancing Behavioral Screens and Guidance in Primary Care Visits
How to cover the ever expanding list of important but time consuming screens and counseling topics now recommended at patient well checks has become a real challenge for primary care clinicians. In response, there are beginning to emerge different approaches and models for the delivery of this care. One of them, developed in Los Angeles, […]
Primary Care – Got Child Psychiatry Consult?
The Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families at FAHC/UVM, in partnership with VCHIP, is entering our fourth year of the Child Psychiatric Phone and Email Consultation Program. The goal of this program is to provide healthcare providers with free curbside phone and email consultation to assist in the management of emotional and behavioral problems […]
Tags: child psychiatrist
Psychiatric Treatment Up, Impairing Mental Illness Down
There have been a lot of mixed messages when it comes to the state of child mental health and the amount of psychiatric treatment children are receiving. On the one hand, we hear the alarm sounded by many that too many children without significant mental illness are being diagnosed and prescribed medication. On the other […]
Child Mental Health Now Versus the Past
Of note, this post is adapted from a similar one that appeared last week in my Psychology Today blog. From many headlines today, it is easy to get the impression that children and adolescents are struggling more than ever these days. At the same time, the mental health system designed to help our kids and […]
Tags: child mental health, substance use, suicide, teen pregnancy
Child Psychiatry Phone/Email Consult Service Underused: Help Us Understand Why?
For the past year, child psychiatry clinicians at the Vermont Center for Children, Youth, and Families (VCCYF) have been assigned to primary care practices across the state to be available for questions made through phone or email (or this blog). The program is supported by the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (VCHIP) and comes at […]
Navigating Residential Services for Vermont Youth
(editor’s note: I’m happy to post this guest blog by some colleagues at HowardCenter on a topic that comes up all the time for parents and clinicians – DR) By Cyrus Patten MSW, Jessica Coleman LCMHC, and Robin Yandell APRN HowardCenter When children and youth are experiencing challenging emotional and behavioral issues that are not […]
Tags: act 264, inpatient, residential care
Access to Child Mental Health Care in Times of Shortage
It is no surprise to anyone working in primary care or mental health that access to child psychiatrists and other mental health experts is very difficult. Here at the VCCYF, our own waitlist has grown to many many months despite everyone working on all cylinders. Frustrations by parents, clinicians, and (yes) those of us here […]