Media Contact: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; 248-651-7536/ 586-817-8414; barbara@eafocus.com
Rochester, Mich.—Jan. 27, 2014—MedNetOne Health Solutions (MNOHS), a Michigan-based health care management organization serving the infrastructure and clinical support needs of primary and specialty care private practice physicians and behavioral health specialists, announces that member practice Woodhaven Pediatrics, led by Michelle Pavlik, D.O., is participating in the new University of Michigan Child Collaborative Care (MC3) program. The MC3 program was developed at U-M in response to the insufficient number of child psychiatrists available to provide support to primary care providers in Michigan who are managing pediatric patients with mild to severe behavioral health challenges.
“There is a virtual absence of child psychiatrists in most counties in Michigan, particularly in rural underserved areas,” said Lindsay Bryan LLMSW, Liaison Coordinator for MC3’s Southeast Region. “This shortage has resulted in unacceptably long wait times for child psychiatry services, disproportionately impacting impoverished youth who are unable to pay out-of-pocket for private psychiatrists who do not accept Medicaid. As a result, many pediatricians and family physicians have been managing the often complex mental health needs of children in the state without additional professional support.”
The common behavioral disorders seen in primary care, according to MC3 research, include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD – 14 percent), anxiety and depressive disorders (10-15 percent), disruptive behavioral disorders (five to seven percent), substance abuse disorders (two to five percent) and autistic disorders (one to two percent). The MC3 program provides “just-in-time” phone consultation by University of Michigan child psychiatrists to primary care providers regarding behavioral and pharmacologic management of patients, support to primary care providers through educational phone consultations and ongoing educational services via webinars and case reviews, and remote consultations to patients through telepsychiatry.
MNOHS CEO Ewa Matuszewski noted that the MC3 program complements the organization’s commitment to providing whole person health care, which includes behavioral health services.
“Left untreated and unidentified, early-stage mental illnesses in children and adolescents are associated with negative behaviors such as substance abuse, violence and unstable employment. That’s why pediatricians and primary care physicians increasingly need the specialized support services added by psychiatry to treat the ‘whole’ patient,” said Matuszewski. “The pharmacologic guidance offered through the MC3 program is especially important, considering estimates that nearly 85 percent of psychotropic medications are prescribed by pediatricians.”
To learn more about the specifics of the program, contact Anne Kramer at the University of Michigan at ack@umich.edu or 734.764.7179.
About MedNetOne Health Solutions:
MedNetOne Health Solutions (MNOHS), a leader in advancing the development and implementation of the Patient-Centered Medial Home (PCMH), is a healthcare management organization for primary and specialty care physicians and behavioral health specialists that provides administrative infrastructure and clinical support and programming to develop and sustain high performing, patient-centric practices while meeting government healthcare reform mandates. Learn more at http://www.mednetone.net.
