The Importance of Patient Experience in Obtaining Mental Health Care at HRSA-Funded Health Centers

Timely mental health care prevents more complex and costly psychological problems, particularly for underserved individuals utilizing HRSA-funded health centers. Patient experience with care services and provider interactions may facilitate timely mental health care access. This study explored which elements of patient experience at health centers minimize delayed access to necessary mental health care. We used cross-sectional data on adult patients who needed mental health services from the 2022 Health Center Patient Survey (N = 1039). Multi-variable logistic regression analyses examined the influence of patient experience using measures drawn from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems on delayed mental health care, accounting for predisposing, enabling, and need factors. 82% of patients did not cite delayed mental health care. 60% or more of patients reported always or usually receiving responsive and coordinated care, with over 80% reporting always or usually receiving positive provider interactions. Lower odds of delayed mental health care was associated with always getting timely callback during business hours (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09, 0.76), and that the provider always listened carefully (aOR: 0.33; CI: 0.14, 0.78), provided easy to understand recommendations (aOR: 0.31, CI: 0.12, 0.79), knew the patient's medical history (aOR: 0.33, CI: 0.15, 0.73), was respectful to the patient (aOR: 0.49, CI: 0.27, 0.90), or was easy to understand (aOR: 0.51, CI: 0.29, 0.88). Care responsiveness and positive provider communication are integral to facilitating timely mental health care access for vulnerable populations with mental health needs.