The third CHIPRA QDC progress report found that states have been experimenting with a number of ways to create better screening techniques for adolescent mental health issues and risky behaviors but have encountered a number of roadblocks at the provider level. These obstacles include provider reluctance to screen for mental health conditions, provider failure to set aside time for private conversations with adolescents and provider inability to guarantee teen privacy.
States have also succeeded in developing adolescent care improvement strategies, such as screening questionnaires, electronic use of screening questionnaires, educating providers on confidentiality laws, connecting primary care and mental health providers, introducing providers to interactive scenario role-play and offering practices maintenance-of-certification credit.
Based on this progress, AHRQ recommends the following state actions for improving adolescent healthcare:
• Exclude information about sensitive services, if possible, from Medicaid/CHIP beneficiary explanation of benefits statements sent home.
• Reimburse providers for screening adolescents for mental health issues and risky behavior and for having private consultations with adolescents about their responses.
• Clarify privacy rules for providers, EHR vendors, patients and guardians to improve the way this information is handled and recorded.
• Create mental health resource lists to distribute to primary care practices and encourage mental health providers and primary care practices to meet and integrate.
• Sponsor and archive expert-led webinars for physicians who care for adolescents.
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