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FMHI Staff Receive Funds to Help Identify Effective Psychosocial Interventions Specifically for Children with Mental Health Challenges

The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI) at the University of South Florida was awarded a $3 million contract by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to study the use of psychotherapeutic medications and clinical services by children enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program. The study will run from February 2006 to June 2007.

AHCA administers Florida's $16 billion Medicaid program, licenses and regulates more than 32,000 health care facilities and 37 health maintenance organizations, and publishes health care data and statistics. FMHI is Florida’s premier research and training center for behavioral health services research. Researchers at the Institute include over 550 faculty, staff and students using applied research techniques to understand complex social problems and develop and disseminate state-of-the-art technology and knowledge to improve human services.

Robert Constantine, PhD., from FMHI’s Department of Mental Health Law & Policy will serve as principal investigator of the Medicaid Drug Therapy Management for Behavioral Health project. “The goal of the program is to implement a Medicaid behavioral health drug management system that relies on cooperation between physicians and pharmacists to determine appropriate practice patterns and clinical guidelines to improve the prescribing, dispensing, and use of drugs in the Medicaid program,” said Robert Constantine. “We will also seek to identify effective psychosocial interventions specifically for children with mental health challenges who are in the child welfare system.”

Through collaborations with experts and an exhaustive review of the literature and best practice information, the program will identify guidelines for the use of mental health drugs and behavioral health services. Actual practice will be compared to these guidelines and opportunities for improving quality of care will be identified. A series of interventions will then attempt to capitalize on these opportunities by encouraging practitioners to utilize the guidelines in the treatment of their patients. The study will place special emphasis on the use of antipsychotic medications with children and identify any differences between the practice patterns of specialists and non-specialists.

Robert Paulson, from FMHI’s Department of Child & Family Studies will head a sub-study of a small sample of high-risk children and conduct interviews and record reviews to understand in detail the experiences, services received, coordination, etc.

A related contract funded by the Florida Department of Children and Families supports a telephone medication consultation service operated by the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine at USF. This "Med-Consult Line" provides information to physicians, child welfare case workers and others about appropriate use of psychotherapeutic medications for children, and will be of great assistance in quality improvement efforts.

For additional information, Robert Constantine, PhD can be contacted at 813-974-9018 or
rconstantine@fmhi.usf.edu

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