The Massachusetts Medicaid program’s Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI) has substantially increased the percentage of children receiving behavioral health screening, according to a study led by UMass Medical School published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
“CBHI implementation transformed the relationship between primary care and behavioral health services,” the authors of the study concluded. “Changes in regulation and payment resulted in widespread behavioral health screening in Massachusetts primary care practices caring for children/adolescents on Medicaid.”
The lead author is Judith A. Savageau, MPH, research associate professor of family medicine & community health and research faculty in the Center for Health Policy and Research at Commonwealth Medicine.
In late December 2007, CBHI began requiring and reimbursing behavioral health screening with standardized tools for children enrolled in MassHealth, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, during well-child visits. Only 4 percent of well-child visits included formal behavioral health screening in 2007, but screening jumped to 73 percent in 2010 and 74 percent in 2012, the study found.
According to published literature, between 13 and 24 percent of children in the U.S. have behavioral health conditions, but many of them do not receive treatment. Under-treatment increases the risk of significant medical, psychosocial, educational and social consequences whereas early intervention results in better outcomes, the authors said.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 2010 and 2012 medical records and MassHealth claims for 4,000 children and adolescents under age 21, and compared this to their baseline study that used 2007 data.
Co-authors include Georgianna Willis, PhD, project director in the Center for Health Policy and Research; Kathleen Muhr, MEd, project director in Work Without Limits; and Gideon Aweh, MS, biostatistician in the Center for Health Policy and Research.
