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Tag: pediatric mental health

  • Northwell, Brightline expand access youth mental health services | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • Northwell and partner to boost care in NY

    • Patients gain access to virtual and in-person behavioral services

    • Brightline offers evaluations, therapy, psychiatry, and psychological testing

    • Partnership aligns with NYS’ efforts to improve youth

    To expand access to behavioral health services for children, teens and their families across New York, has formed a strategic alliance with Brightline, a pediatric and adolescent  family-centered mental health provider.

    Through the collaboration, patients gain access to evidence-based, family-centered mental healthcare, whether in person at Brightline clinics in Lake Success and Brooklyn, or virtually. The partnership aims to address an increasing demand for youth and family behavioral health services in the region.

    Northwell already provides behavioral health services to children, including outpatient and inpatient care, urgent care and emergency care, and school services. But because of what Northwell has described as a growing demand for services, the health system “refers a significant number of patients with behavioral health needs to external therapists and psychiatrists,” according to a news release about the collaboration with Brightline.

    With the collaboration, Northwell patients now have streamlined access to referrals within Brightline’s network of licensed clinicians — including psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists — who specialize in treating anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, trauma, obsessive compulsive disorder and parenting stress.

    “Our strategic alliance with Brightline reflects our shared commitment to meeting families where they are – in their neighborhoods, their schools, and even their homes,” Michael Scarpelli, senior vice president and president of Behavioral Health Services at Northwell, said in the news release.

    The collaboration is designed to align with New York State’s efforts to improve behavioral health access and better integrate mental and physical care for children and adolescents.

    “Together with Brightline, we’re building stronger mental health support for our youngest patients and the people who care for them,” Dr. John Young, Northwell’s chair of Psychiatry, said in the news release. “We’re also making it much easier for New York families to receive this care either virtually or in-person at the Brightline clinic locations.”

    The collaboration expands access to pediatric mental health care and broadens service offerings in existing and new markets. Northwell patients can now access Brightline’s services, including evaluations, therapy, psychiatry, medication management and psychological testing.

    “We’re proud to collaborate with Northwell Health to extend our reach and remove the barriers that prevent so many young people and families from getting the support they need,” Naomi Allen, CEO and co-founder of Brightline said in the news release.

    “All families deserve timely, affordable, and compassionate care, and we’re honored to bring that to more families in New York,” Allen said. “Northwell Health has long supported New York families’ and children’s mental health – demonstrated by their ongoing financial and clinical commitment to the space.”

    Brightline provides in-person psychological testing for autism, learning disorders, executive functioning, school readiness, giftedness and more. The organization also provides access to therapy, psychiatry and medication management for children with depression or trauma as needed. It offers specialized programs to test, diagnose and treat higher-acuity conditions through therapy, psychiatry and medication management. And it delivers patient-centered, age-appropriate care with personalized plans that are family focused. Care teams also collaborate with pediatricians to align physical and mental health support.


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    Adina Genn

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  • Pediatric Mental Health Tops 2023 List of Safety Concerns

    Pediatric Mental Health Tops 2023 List of Safety Concerns

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    March 15, 2023 – The pediatric mental health crisis, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, is the top patient safety concern of 2023, according to a new report from a top U.S. patient safety and research firm. 

    “Even before COVID-19, the impact of social media, gun violence, and other socioeconomic factors were causing elevated rates of depression and anxiety in children,” Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the research group ECRI, said in a news release. “The challenges caused by the pandemic turned a bad situation into a crisis. We’re approaching a national health emergency.”

    According to a study in JAMA Pediatrics, rates of anxiety and depression in children ages 3 to 17 increased by 29% and 27%, respectively, from 2016 to 2020. The average number of weekly visits to emergency departments for adolescents’ suspected suicide attempts was 39% higher in winter 2021 than in winter 2020, the CDC has documented. And a 2021 CDC survey of U.S. high school students found 30% of girls said they’d seriously considered attempting suicide, which was double the rate among boys and up almost 60% from a decade ago. Almost half of LGBTQ students said they’d considered suicide.

    ECRI, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness in health care, made several recommendations to address the pediatric mental health crisis. Among other things, ECRI’s experts suggested performing universal child mental health screenings during every office and hospital visit. In addition, they recommended that primary care providers make “warm handoffs” of patients and families to therapists whom they trusted.

    In an interview, Schabacker said that it’s not enough for a primary care provider to simply tell a child’s parents to pick a therapist from an insurance list and make an appointment. The clinician should refer the patient to a mental health professional that they are familiar with, whether that be a therapist in private practice or one employed by a school or a church. In addition, he said, the practitioner should make sure that the therapist has the right information about the patient and knows why they were referred. 

    Doctors should also be made aware of the extent of the crisis and the long-term effects of mental health conditions that go untreated, Schabacker said. And they should bear in mind that children who are LGBTQ, minority, and/or socially disadvantaged have a far higher risk of a severe mental crisis than heterosexual white children do. 

    How Staff Shortages Impact Safety

    Since the start of the pandemic, staff shortages in hospitals and doctors’ offices have affected several of the top 10 safety issues, according to ECRI. Staffing shortages, in fact, was the top safety concern in ECRI’s 2022 report. Among other things, these shortages have played a role in the number two safety concern this year: “Physical and verbal violence against health care staff.”

    If an emergency room is understaffed, for example, it can take a long time for a patient to be seen, and some patients or their family members might become frustrated and angry. They might then confront an ER nurse. 

    “We’ve seen a dramatic increase in violence against nurses,” Schabacker said. When nurses and doctors are overworked because of staff shortages, they might not have the patience to calm people down and de-escalate situations.

    Another result of staff shortages is that some health care professionals may be “expected to work in areas outside their scope of practice and competencies” (item number 4 on the list). This can lead to less effective care, Schabacker said.

    “Staffing shortages directly influence clinical staff assignments, and gaps need to be filled,” he said. “And when you’re constantly on the run, constantly stressed, constantly at your limit, it’s much more likely that you will miss things.”

    Fallout of Dobbs Decision

    Another example of how changes in society affect health care is the number three concern on ECRI’s list: “Clinician needs in times of uncertainty surrounding maternal-fetal medicine.” 

    This refers to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and turned the issue of abortion’s legality back to the states.

    Explaining how this change affects patient safety, the ECRI report says, “Uncertainty has now arisen in many states regarding which reproductive services may be provided and when. This uncertainty can lead to refusals of or delays in care that ultimately may not be considered to violate the law. Although some states with abortion bans allow abortions to save the life of or prevent harm to the pregnant patient, there is often little guidance on where the line is. If clinicians wait too long, patients may suffer serious harm.”

    Obviously, health care providers can’t change the law, but Schabacker said health care organizations are obligated to tell doctors exactly what the law requires. 

    “If a woman experiences serious health events with her pregnancy, and the physician is unclear about what he or she is allowed to do in those situations, because of the uncertainty created by the Supreme Court decision, that causes risk and will lead to safety events and harm to the mothers,” he said.

    Health care leaders need to be proactive and provide clear guidance about what is and isn’t allowed. 

    Erroneous Medication Lists

    ECRI also calls out “medication errors resulting from inaccurate patient medication lists.” The report notes that “inconsistent knowledge and record keeping about medications cause up to 50% of medication errors in hospitals and up to 20% of adverse drug events.” 

    While these medication documentation errors occurred in hospitals, Schabacker said, medication lists in ambulatory care may contain even more mistakes. “A study conducted in patient homes prior to a doctor’s visit discovered that medication discrepancies ranged from 14% to 98%,” he said.

    The most frequent examples are omitting drugs from the medication list or including discontinued medications. 

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