Follow-Up Care After Behavioral Health-Related Hospitalization for Children and Adolescents

Although the coordination of follow-up behavioral health-related care between hospitals and outpatient behavioral health care settings is important, studies on this topic are few. Claims were selected from Truven Health Analytics’ Marketscan databases during 2014 for youth aged 2–18 years who had an inpatient stay with a behavioral health diagnosis. Analyses identified whether youth received a behavioral health follow-up visit within 30 days following a hospitalization. The percentage of children who received post-hospitalization follow-up care was 59.1% (Medicaid) and 59.4% (private insurance). While children less than 15 years old (Medicaid) had increased odds of follow-up care compared with youth aged 15–18 years, children 2–9 years old with commercial insurance had decreased odds of follow-up care. Variations in follow-up care by patient characteristics provide an opportunity to target efforts to increase coordinated care to those who are least likely to receive it.