Department of Child and Family Development, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA.
Adm Policy Ment Health. 2020 Sep;47(5):655-664. doi: 10.1007/s10488-019-00988-1.
Little is known about high-cost service users in the context of youth outpatient mental health, despite the fact that they account for a large proportion of overall mental healthcare expenditures. A nuanced understanding of these users is critical to develop and implement tailored services, as well as to inform relevant policies. This study aims to characterize high-cost service users by examining demographic factors, diagnoses, and service type use. Administrative service use data were extracted from a large County Department of Behavioral Health Services database. Latent profile analyses suggest a four-profile solution primarily distinguished by youth age and diagnostic complexity. Study findings have implications for defining high-cost service users and key targets for efforts aiming to improve outcomes for these youth.
尽管高成本服务用户在青少年门诊心理健康领域占总体精神卫生保健支出的很大比例，但人们对此知之甚少。深入了解这些用户对于制定和实施量身定制的服务以及为相关政策提供信息至关重要。本研究旨在通过检查人口统计学因素、诊断和服务类型使用来描述高成本服务用户。行政服务使用数据从一个大型县行为健康服务部门数据库中提取。潜在剖面分析表明，主要通过青年年龄和诊断复杂性来区分四种方案。研究结果对定义高成本服务用户以及为改善这些青年的治疗效果而努力的关键目标具有重要意义。
