Improving Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Care: The Choice and Partnership Approach

The Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA) is designed to improve access and quality of pediatric mental health care. We tested whether CAPA improved access in an academic pediatric hospital.

We used de-identified administrative data to compare access pre- (2011) and post-CAPA (2013).

Wait time to first appointment in 2011 was 225.3 days (95% CI = [211.0, 239.6], N = 364), compared to 93.0 days (95% CI = [89.2, 96.8], N = 838) in 2013 (p<.001). Mean wait time between the first and second appointments was 59.2 days (95% CI = [46.5, 71.9], N = 86) in 2011, compared to 95.9 days (95% CI = [90.3, 101.5], N = 487) in 2013 (p < .001). However, overall mean wait time from referral to second appointment decreased from 271.2 days (95% CI = [236.5, 305.9], N = 86) in 2011 to 168.9 days (95% CI = [161.6, 176.2], N = 487) in 2013 (p < .001). Provider productivity increased from 32.6 to 57.0 first appointments/FTE/year. Depending on the question, 65 to 95% of parents and children gave positive answers about CAPA.

CAPA implementation was associated with more patients served, decreased waiting time to first appointment, and higher productivity.