• Sean Lynch, Whitney Witt, Mir M Ali, Judith L Teich, Ryan Mutter, Brent Gibbons, and Christine Walsh.
• From the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics & Quality, Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health & Human Services, Rockville, MD.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2021 Apr 1; 37 (4): e179e184e179-e184.

BackgroundIncreasing numbers of children are receiving care for behavioral health conditions in emergency departments (EDs). However, studies of mental health-related care coordination between EDs and primary and/or specialty care settings are limited. Such coordination is important because ED care alone may be insufficient for patients' behavioral health needs.MethodsWe analyzed claims during the year 2014 from Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Medicaid and Commercial databases for outpatient services and prescription drugs for youth 2 to 18 years old with continuous enrollment. We applied a standard care coordination measure to insurance claims data in order to examine whether youth received a primary care or specialty follow-up visit within 7 days following an ED visit with a psychiatric diagnosis. We calculated descriptive statistics to evaluate differences in care coordination by enrollees' demographic, insurance, and health-related characteristics. In addition, we constructed a multivariate logistic regression model to detect the factors associated with the receipt of care coordination.ResultsThe total percentages of children who received care coordination were 45.8% (Medicaid) and 46.6% (private insurance). Regardless of insurance coverage type, children aged 10 to 14 years had increased odds of care coordination compared with youth aged 15 to 18 years. Children aged 2 to 5 years and males had decreased odds of care coordination.ConclusionsIt is of concern that fewer than half of patients received care coordination following an ED visit. Factors such as behavioral health workforce shortages, wait times for an appointment with a provider, and lack of reimbursement for care coordination may help explain these results.Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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