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Claims Analysis Shows Dramatic Rise in Acute Care Services for Pediatric Mental Health
The use of acute care services for pediatric mental health conditions increased substantially between 2016 and 2021, according to a new research brief from Clarify Health, a cloud analytics and value-based payments platform company.
The Kids Are Not Alright: Pediatric Mental Health Care Utilization from 2016 – 2021 details findings from an observational analysis of US insurance claims spanning more than 20 million children annually over the past 6 years.
“As a father, the health and wellbeing of America’s youth could not be more top of mind for me,” said Niall Brennan, chief analytics and privacy officer at Clarify Health. “Our hope is that this analysis helps spark a wider conversation around the need to improve access, utilization, and quality of pediatric behavioral health services.”
Overall, inpatient admissions for pediatric mental health increased 61% between 2016 and 2021, from 30 to 48 visits annually per 1000 patients, according to the analysis. Pediatric mental health visits to the emergency department grew 20%, from 55 to 66 visits annually per 1000 patients. Meanwhile, in-person office and outpatient mental health visits increased only 5% over the same period. The slower growth in nonacute mental health services reflects a sharp drop in visits in 2020, likely caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company explained.
The most rapid increases in inpatient pediatric mental health services occurred among adolescents aged 12 through 15, the research found. Compared with a 7% increase in inpatient admissions for boys aged 11 and younger, inpatient admissions grew 64% among girls and 68% among boys aged 12 through 15. In 2021, mental health inpatient admissions for girls aged 12 through 15 were more than 2.5 times higher than for boys in the age group.
The research also identified significant differences by health insurance type. Inpatient admissions among children with mental health conditions increased 103% among those with commercial insurance compared with 40% among children covered by Medicaid. Emergency department visits for mental health declined 10% among children with commercial insurance but increased 20% in those with Medicaid insurance. In 2021, mental health emergency department visits were almost twice as high among children covered by Medicaid compared with commercial insurance.
“The trends illuminated in this report reinforce health care leaders’ responsibility to address children’s mental health, especially when considering that half of all mental health conditions onset during adolescence and carry into adulthood,” said Jean Drouin, MD, CEO and cofounder of Clarify Health. “With a growing consensus that mental, behavioral, and physical health intersect, this research report aims to spark a conversation about the overall wellbeing of America’s next generation.”
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