The impact of behavioral health consultations on medical encounter duration in pediatric primary care: A retrospective match-controlled study.

We examined the impact of embedded BHCs on duration of medical encounters in a pediatric primary care clinic. Method: We conducted a retrospective matched-pairs analysis of encounters involving behavioral consultations versus encounters for similar patients that did not include a consultation (N = 114) using electronic health record timestamp data. We examined both medical duration (i.e., medical provider services) and total duration (i.e., medical services + behavioral consultation). Results: Patient encounters involving behavioral consultation had a significantly longer (+11.23 min) total duration than matched controls, but significantly shorter (−11.67 min) medical duration. Discussion: The results indicate BHCs may improve primary care provider efficiency for patients with behavioral concerns, a notable finding given the impact of clinical time-constraints on important health care outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Families, Systems, and Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research