Let’s inspire hope in our children and communities—together!OnMay 10 at 7 p.m. EDT , we’re joining SAMHSA to discuss children’s mental health. Use #HeroesofHope to share your ideas, questions, and insights. Register to watch:www.RegOnline.com/AwarenessDay2018
2017
November
Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association Health Summit
Dr. Katherine Grimes was the keynote speaker at the 2nd Annual Health Summit organized by the Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association on November 16, 2017. This year’s summit focused on “Keeping All Children and Families Healthy and Safe”. More information about the event can be located here.
October
64th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescence Psychiatry
Dr. Katherine Grimes and other CHI team members gave a Clinical Perspectives presentation at the 2017 AACAP Annual Conference in Washington D.C., on October 26, 2017. The presentation was entitled “Skill Building in Family-Centered Pediatric Integrated Care” and the discussant was Dr. Greg Fritz, AACAP President. Dr. Gregory Hagan, Dr. Cecil R. Webster, and Ms. Karen Martinez, presented with Dr. Grimes.
June
Annual Research Meeting, Academy Health
Dr. Grimes presented “Reducing Disparities in Pediatric Mental Health Access: A Collaborative Practice Model” which included research findings created in collaboration with Mr. Tim Creedon and Drs. Cecil Webster, Sara Coffey, and Greg Hagan.
2016
October
Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescence Psychiatry
Dr. James Palmer was selected to receive the 2016 Systems of Care Special Program Clinical Project Award, sponsored by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Substance Abuse and Addiction Committee and AACAP’s Committee on Community-based Systems of Care. Dr. Palmer presented a poster, entitled “Collaborative Practice Model: Applications of AACAP Best Principles” alongside Dr. Grimes, reflecting on his experience training in the collaborative practice model. Additional collaborative practice faculty included Dr. Cecil Webster and Dr. Greg Hagan.
Dr. Grimes and Dr. McMickens presented findings from analyses created in collaboration with Dr. Ben Cook at the Academy Health’s Annual Research Meeting the poster, titled, “Disparities and Super-Spenders: Under and Over-Utilization in Children’s Mental Health”, examined the utilization and expense patterns of a group of “super-user” youth, identified as those in the top 10% of behavioral health expense.
2015
January – December
Fostering Effective Integration of Behavioral Health and Primary Care in Massachusetts (Project funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation)
In January 2015, CHI received a year long sustainability grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. This grant focused on developing effective integration of primary and behavior health care, specifically targeting low-income and vulnerable Massachusetts residents. Dr. Grimes and her team brought an innovative approach to earlier recognition and treatment of at-risk youth that generated broad interest. Dr. Grimes was interviewed by Rivkela Brodsky of the New England Psychologist regarding the grant awarded to the Children’s Health Initiative by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. Outcome analyses were conducted for children enrolled in the study, as well as for a comparison group.
2012-2014
Making Health Care Affordable: Preserving Access and Improving Value (Project funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation)
Starting in 2012, the Children’s Health Initiative was awarded a three-year Making Health Care Affordable grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, based on the successful MHSPY model. This funding was for a demonstration project designed to address healthcare challenges related to access, quality and expense. The pilot was based at the Windsor Street Care Center in Cambridge, MA (a Cambridge Health Alliance site) and involves a collaborative practice approach between Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics to better serve the mental health needs of children and teens. Our goal was to improve both the quality of care and the patient experience, while containing costs.
The specific objectives of this grant were to:
Conduct a quantitative analysis of a combined Network Health/CHA EHR database to identify characteristics of pediatric patients with the greatest mental health care costs.
Implement an Active Consultation model involving both primary care and specialty mental health providers, and family support specialists working with families of youth with the highest mental health care expenditures, to enhance engagement. Our hypothesis was that increased engagement would result in improved quality of care and reduced mental health service expenditures.
Evaluate the intervention to assess its preliminary effectiveness on trends in both type and amount of services delivered to the target group of children.
The study was led by the PI Katherine Grimes, MD, MPH, with two Co PIs Ben Cook, PhD, MPH, and Greg Hagan, MD, FAAP, contributing substantively to both the study design and evaluation.
2013
Collaboration with the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS)
In 2013, Dr. Grimes and the CHI staff collaborated with the Center for Health Care Strategies on this 50 state analysis with at the University of California at San Diego. The study examined utilization patterns among youth who were Medicaid beneficiaries and explored the implications of those patterns, including service intensity, and cost.
Key findings: Fewer than 10 percent of children in Medicaid use mental health care, but their combined pediatric and mental health care represents for approximately 38 percent of total Medicaid expenditures for children.
On May 10 at 7 p.m. EDT , we’re joining SAMHSA to discuss children’s mental health. Use #HeroesofHope to share your ideas, questions, and insights. Register to watch: www.RegOnline.com/Aware
2017
Dr. Grimes presented “Reducing Disparities in Pediatric Mental Health Access: A Collaborative Practice Model” which included research findings created in collaboration with Mr. Tim Creedon and Drs. Cecil Webster, Sara Coffey, and Greg Hagan.
Dr. James Palmer was selected to receive the 2016 Systems of Care Special Program Clinical Project Award, sponsored by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) Substance Abuse and Addiction Committee and AACAP’s Committee on Community-based Systems of Care. Dr. Palmer presented a poster, entitled “Collaborative Practice Model: Applications of AACAP Best Principles” alongside Dr. Grimes, reflecting on his experience training in the collaborative practice model. Additional collaborative practice faculty included Dr. Cecil Webster and Dr. Greg Hagan.
In January 2015, CHI received a year long sustainability grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. This grant focused on developing effective integration of primary and behavior health care, specifically targeting low-income and vulnerable Massachusetts residents. Dr. Grimes and her team brought an innovative approach to earlier recognition and treatment of at-risk youth that generated broad interest. Dr. Grimes was interviewed by Rivkela Brodsky of the New England Psychologist regarding the grant awarded to the Children’s Health Initiative by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. Outcome analyses were conducted for children enrolled in the study, as well as for a comparison group.
Starting in 2012, the Children’s Health Initiative was awarded a three-year Making Health Care Affordable grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, based on the successful MHSPY model. This funding was for a demonstration project designed to address healthcare challenges related to access, quality and expense. The pilot was based at the Windsor Street Care Center in Cambridge, MA (a Cambridge Health Alliance site) and involves a collaborative practice approach between Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics to better serve the mental health needs of children and teens. Our goal was to improve both the quality of care and the patient experience, while containing costs.
In 2013, Dr. Grimes and the CHI staff collaborated with the