Physician “Costs” in Providing Behavioral Health in Primary Care

Abstract

Findings converge with previous research, demonstrating that behavioral health concerns dramatically affect the length of visit for primary care physicians. Moreover, this study is the first to document the specific impact of such concerns on pediatrician reimbursement for providing behavioral services. These results provide further support for integrating behavioral health services into pediatric primary care settings, thus allowing physicians to refer more difficult patients with behavioral issues to in-house collaborating behavioral health providers who can spend additional time necessary to address the behavioral health issue and who are licensed to receive mental health reimbursement.