Duration and Direct Cost of Behavioral Health Concerns in Pediatric Primary Care (EI)

The purpose of this study is to compare the duration and direct cost of pediatric primary care visits consisting of medical concerns only, behavioral concerns only, and medical and behavioral concerns.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Health

Detailed Description

Behavioral, emotional, and psychosocial issues of children and adolescents are often brought to the attention of primary care physicians by parents (Smith, Rost, & Kashner, 1995). In fact, behavioral health concerns are the primary reason for visits to physicians in 15% to 21% of cases (Kelleher, Childs, Wasserman, McInerny, Nutting, & Gardner, 1997; Lavigne, Gibbons, Arend, Rosenbaum, Binns, & Christoffel, 1999; Williams, Klinepeter, Palmes, Pulley, & Foy, 2004). During 50% to 80% of child health care visits, parents or physicians raise concerns of behavioral or psychosocial issues (Cassidy & Jellinek 1998; Fries, Koop, Beadle, Cooper, England, Greaves, et al., 1993; Sharp, Pantell, Murphy, & Lewis, 1992).

Several concerns have been raised when patients seek mental health services from primary care physicians, including an increase in the number of medical visits, an increase in the time spent with the physician, lost revenue if a patient takes more time than scheduled, a lower reimbursement rate for mental health issues, limited training in mental health treatment, a decrease in the number of patients seen, an increase in the risk of physician burnout, unsatisfied patients, an increase in impairment in patient health and functioning, and an increase in the use of acute and emergency care (Connor, McLaughlin, Jeffers-Terry, O'Brien, Stille, Young, & Antonelli, 2006; deGruy, 1997; Leaf, Owens, Levelthal, Forsyth, Vaden-Kiernan, Epstein, et al., 2004; Strosahl, 2002; Young, Klap, Sherbourne, & Wells, 2001).

There are limited studies examining the time and cost incurred by physicians for treating patients with behavioral, emotional, and psychosocial issues. Average primary care visits last between 13 and 17 minutes (Blumenthal, Causino, Chang, Culpepper, Marder, Saglam, et al., 1999; Bryant & Shimizu, 1988) A more recent study conducted in rural communities found that physicians spent an average of 5 to 7 minutes longer on visits where behavioral issues were raised (Cooper, Valleley, Polaha, Begeny, & Evans, 2006). Primary care physicians see four or five patients per hour (deGruy, 1997), which is an insufficient amount of time for a detailed psychological assessment or management of mental health symptoms. Therefore, frequent or longer visits are scheduled. Additionally, physicians are reimbursed for medical diagnosis but not mental diagnoses (deGruy).

This study is based on previous work documenting that pediatric primary care visits increased in duration when behavioral concerns were identified prior to the visit and spontaneously raised during the visit (Cooper, et al., 2006). Additionally, this study calculates the reimbursement rate associated with those visits in addition to the duration of the visit. Finally, this study is a replication of a study previously approved through the University of Nebraska Medical Center Institutional Review Board (i.e., IRB # 449-07-EP).

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 228

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Nebraska
    • Omaha, Nebraska, United States, 68198-7830
      • University of Nebraska Medical Center, Munroe Meyer Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Approximately 500 patients from a pediatrician office will be reviewed.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who attend a local pediatrician clinic between between March 2009 and March 2010

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Nebraska
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Rachel Valleley, PhD, University of Nebraska

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 3, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2010
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 15, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2009
• First Posted (Estimated): June 17, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 6, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 1, 2023
• Last Verified: September 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 0136-09-EP