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Table 1 Annual behavioral health service utilization, 2010

From: A needs-based method for estimating the behavioral health staff needs of community health centers

Median visits per mental health patient

3.7

  Percent of visits to licensed MH providers*

59.9%

  Percent of visits to psychiatrists

23.3%

  Percent of visits to other mental health staff**

16.8%

Median visits per licensed MH provider** FTE

889

Median visits per psychiatrist FTE

2,210

Median visits per other mental health staff FTE

648

Median visits per substance abuse*** patient

5.8

Median visits per substance abuse*** provider FTE

1,012

  1. *Psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and other licensed mental health professionals were grouped together for analyses as “licensed mental health providers”.
  2. **Includes unlicensed individuals, including “certified” individuals who provide counseling, treatment or support services related to mental health professionals.
  3. The UDS reports the number of patients by medical insurance type for two age categories, ages 0-19 and ages 20+. Across all health centers in 2010, 35.3% of patients were ages 0-19, and 64.7% were age 20 or older. Of patients age 0-19, 64.5% were age 0-11, and 35.5% were age 12-19. This age distribution was used to calculate the number of patients by insurance type ages 0-11 and ages 12-19 for each grantee. We selected only those age 12 and over for our analysis, since the NSDUH provides mental health and substance abuse prevalence data on persons age 12 and over.
  4. ***The UDS defines a substance abuse visit as “a visit between a substance abuse provider (e.g., a mental health provider or a credentialed substance abuse counselor, rehabilitation therapist, psychologist) and a patient during which alcohol or drug abuse services (i.e., assessment and diagnosis, treatment, or after care) are provided”. The UDS defines substance abuse services as “psychiatric nurses, psychiatric social workers, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and family therapists and other individuals providing counseling and/or treatment services related to substance abuse”.
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BMC Health Services Research

ISSN: 1472-6963

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