TY - JOUR
AU - L. S. Rotenstein
AU - S. T. Edwards
AU - B. E. Landon
A1 - 
AB - A high prevalence of mental health diagnoses in adults alongside ongoing shortages of mental health specialists and expansion of the patient-centered medical home have increased the involvement of primary care clinicians in treating mental health concerns. Using nationally representative serial cross-sectional data from the 2006-18 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys regarding visits to outpatient primary care physicians by patients ages eighteen and older, we sought to characterize temporal trends in primary care visits addressing a mental health concern. Based on a sample of 109,898 visits representing 3,891,233,060 weighted visits, we found that the proportion of visits that addressed mental health concerns increased from 10.7 percent of visits in 2006-07 to 15.9 percent by 2016 and 2018. Black patients were 40 percent less likely than White patients to have a mental health concern addressed during a primary care visit, and Hispanic patients were 40 percent less likely than non-Hispanic patients to have a mental health concern addressed during a primary care visit. These findings emphasize the need for payment and billing approaches (that is, value-based care models and billing codes for integrated behavioral health) as well as organizational designs and supports (that is, colocated therapy or psychiatry providers, availability of e-consultation, and longer visits) that enable primary care physicians to adequately address mental health needs.
AD - Lisa S. Rotenstein (lrotenstein@bwh.harvard.edu), Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.;Samuel T. Edwards, Oregon Health & Science University and Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon.;Bruce E. Landon, Harvard University and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
AN - 36745830
BT - Health Aff (Millwood)
C5 - Financing & Sustainability; Healthcare Disparities; Medical Home
CP - 2
DA - Feb
DO - 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00705
DP - NLM
IS - 2
JF - Health Aff (Millwood)
LA - eng
N2 - A high prevalence of mental health diagnoses in adults alongside ongoing shortages of mental health specialists and expansion of the patient-centered medical home have increased the involvement of primary care clinicians in treating mental health concerns. Using nationally representative serial cross-sectional data from the 2006-18 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys regarding visits to outpatient primary care physicians by patients ages eighteen and older, we sought to characterize temporal trends in primary care visits addressing a mental health concern. Based on a sample of 109,898 visits representing 3,891,233,060 weighted visits, we found that the proportion of visits that addressed mental health concerns increased from 10.7 percent of visits in 2006-07 to 15.9 percent by 2016 and 2018. Black patients were 40 percent less likely than White patients to have a mental health concern addressed during a primary care visit, and Hispanic patients were 40 percent less likely than non-Hispanic patients to have a mental health concern addressed during a primary care visit. These findings emphasize the need for payment and billing approaches (that is, value-based care models and billing codes for integrated behavioral health) as well as organizational designs and supports (that is, colocated therapy or psychiatry providers, availability of e-consultation, and longer visits) that enable primary care physicians to adequately address mental health needs.
PY - 2023
SN - 0278-2715
SP - 163
EP - 171+
ST - Adult Primary Care Physician Visits Increasingly Address Mental Health Concerns
T1 - Adult Primary Care Physician Visits Increasingly Address Mental Health Concerns
T2 - Health Aff (Millwood)
TI - Adult Primary Care Physician Visits Increasingly Address Mental Health Concerns
U1 - Financing & Sustainability; Healthcare Disparities; Medical Home
U3 - 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00705
VL - 42
VO - 0278-2715
Y1 - 2023
ER -