Published in:
01-04-2017
Children’s Clinical Complexity Drives Psychiatric Medication Costs to Rival Hospital Costs
Authors:
Charley Huffine, MD, Debra Srebnik, PhD, Laurie Sylla, MA, Eric Trupin, PhD, Terry Lee, MD
Published in:
The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research
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Issue 2/2017
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Excerpt
Mental disorders are the costliest health conditions of childhood
1 with associated services accounting for more than one third of children’s Medicaid expenditures.
2 Concerned with managing these costs, Washington State’s Medicaid authority collaborated with the University of Washington and King County’s (Seattle area) public mental health authority to investigate cost predictors. Mental health costs to the state over a 1-year period were examined with respect to psychiatric medications, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations for a psychiatric diagnosis (DSM-V codes 290–319) for children (age 0–18 years) in King County who had at least one claim for these services. …
