Pediatrician-psychiatrist partnerships expand access to mental health care.

PEDIATRICIANS ARE OFTEN THE FIRST clinicians to see young patients with mental health conditions, but they may feel ill equipped to provide care for such patients. They may also struggle to find specialists to whom they can refer more complicated cases because many geographical areas face significant shortages of child and adolescent psychiatrists. To address these problems and expand access to mental health care, many states are creating programs that provide pediatricians with training along with real-time access to support from mental health professionals. One leader in this approach is Massachusetts, which created the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP) in 2005. The program provides pediatricians throughout the state with access to training and expertise from mental health specialists at academic centers nearby. Now other states, including New York, Ohio, Washington, and Nebraska, are following suit with similar programs (Gabel S and Sarvet B et al. Psychiatric Serv. 2011;62[8]:827-829).