We’ve reimagined care at Pediatrics Northwest. This includes quick connection to behavioral health support and treatment for common childhood concerns. For example:
• A 3 year old with increasing tantrums and big feelings
• An 8 year old anxious about going back to school every Monday
• A teenager feeling down, napping after school and sleeping poorly at night
• Any age child or youth worried about ‘shots’ at their well child appointment
We want to make it easier for your child and family to get the behavioral health help you want before concerns get even bigger. And we’ve helped thousands of families do just that since March 2020 with a team based approach, called Collaborative Care.
Collaborative Care
Pediatrics Northwest and long time family services agency, HopeSparks, have teamed up to offer personalized mental health care for Pediatrics Northwest patients from age 1 to young adult.
This unique approach uses the Collaborative Care Model, a system of team based care created at the University of Washington, to treat common childhood mental health concerns such as
• Anxiety
• Low mood/depression
• Off track behavior
• ADHD
• Fear of needles
Collaborative Care. We are here to help.
It starts with you and your child. Collaborative Care is built to support the strengths of children and their family. Your pediatrician will work with you to determine if Collaborative Care is a good fit for your family by listening to your concerns and reviewing behavioral health questionnaires filled out at wellness appointments. Your pediatrician will continue to provide routine pediatric care while also staying up to date with their progress in Collaborative Care.
If a referral is made you can expect to hear from the pediatric Integrated Therapist, a HopeSparks employee who works with families at Pediatrics Northwest, within just a few days. The therapist will schedule an initial hour long appointment and then regular weekly appointments will be set. All of the appointments with the therapist will be on zoom (telehealth).
The key to Collaborative Care is weekly brief therapy sessions, typically 20-30 minutes long, in a coaching model. You and the therapist will work together to identify concerns and set treatment goals. The therapist will offer tools and strategies to help your child manage worries, improve mood or better understand early childhood behavior. The therapist uses an evidence based treatment approach developed by Seattle Childrens’ psychologists called FAST, short for First Approach Skills Training.
Also on the team is a pediatric psychiatric nurse practitioner who serves as wise counsel to the team and who doesn’t meet with you and your child directly. The psychiatric provider makes recommendations to the team about diagnosis and treatment recommendations. Most children enrolled in Collaborative Care will not need a medication as part of their treatment. If there is a recommendation for a medication, it would be prescribed by your child’s pediatrician after conversation with you and your child.
A Community Health Worker (CHW), employed at Pediatrics Northwest, is available to be a source of support for your family during your time in Collaborative Care They are skilled in navigating a wide variety of community resources or to help your family navigate the healthcare system.
A typical course of treatment in Collaborative Care is 3-6 months. The care team meets regularly to monitor progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed. Appointments become less frequent as symptoms improve. The team keeps track of progress and recommendations in the child’s electronic health record. Sometimes a referral is made to a different level of care and the CHW can help make these connections.
Who benefits from Collaborative Care?
Collaborative Care enrollment is best for children and families with mild to moderate mental health symptoms. If a child or teen has severe depression with active thoughts of suicide a referral to a mental health specialist in the community is advised.
Ages 15 months to 5 years
This is about foundational support for parents and caregivers to better understand their child’s behavior. Collaborative Care provides help that many of us at Pediatrics Northwest wish we had in our journey as parents. This could include:
-Tantrums and big feelings
-Off track behavior
-Sleep concerns- ie routines that take hours, leaving everyone exhausted
-Difficulties with separation such as daycare and preschool drop off
-Common issues with toilet learning
-Meal time stress
School Age
-Worries, anxiousness
-Off track behavior
-Low mood
-Impulsiveness
-Difficulty with focus
Teens
-Anxiety
-Low mood/ depression
-Inactivity
-Too much or too little sleep
-ADHD
-Behavior concerns
Fear of Needles
Collaborative Care enrollment can help children and youth overcome their fear of blood tests and injections
What is the benefit of Collaborative Care at Pediatrics Northwest?
-Easy access, it begins quickly after referral to the team by your pediatrician
-The focus on early identification and effective treatment before problems grow larger
-Each family members can join the sessions from where they are- home, school, work since the sessions are
-Treatment based on targets. Treatment goals are monitored carefully and communication between team members is tight. All team members make their notes in the child’s chart so everyone is on the same page
-The team helps families to get additional care or desired resources.. whether a therapist for a caregiver, afterschool activities for kids or camps in the summer, school accommodations support (504 or IEP)
-Nearly all insurances including state Apple Health/Medicaid cover the cost of Collaborative Care.
Billing and Financial Considerations
-Nearly all insurances including state Apple Health/Medicaid cover the cost of Collaborative Care.
– Collaborative Care Codes are billed monthly under your pediatrician’s name as the billing provider with the integrated therapist listed as the service provider. The billing codes used for Collaborative Care are 99492, 99493, 99494 and G2114
-We suggest that if you have any insurance coverage other than Medicaid/Apple Health (which covers all Collaborative Care charges in full), that you call your insurer to confirm coverage of the 4 codes listed above