Summary
Published Date: June 18, 2019
The rising prevalence of mental health conditions and substance use disorders (MH/SUD) underscores the important role of health centers (HCs) in caring for low-income and uninsured MH/SUD patients. This study used the 2014 Health Center Patient Survey and 2014 Uniform Data System to determine the independent association between delivery of MH/SUD integration and related interventions to 2,714 patients that reported a MH/SUD condition with the number of HC visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations last year.
Findings:
- Health education was associated with fewer predicted ED visits (1.8 vs. 2.3) and lower likelihood of hospitalizations (16% vs. 24%) among MH patients.
- Medical enabling services were associated with lower rates of ED visits (0.3 vs.1.9) and hospitalizations (< 1% vs. 13%) among SUD patients.
