Today, Parker Pediatrics and Adolescents employs three doctoral-level psychologists: one full-time, one three-quarter time, and one half-time, as well as one master’s-level therapist who works half-time.
“On any given day, we have at least two counselors in our office,” said Lindsey Einhorn, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist who joined the practice in 2011. She and her colleagues care for children and teens with ADHD, depression, anxiety, behavioral and adjustment disorders, drug counseling, behavioral addictions, social struggles such as bullying, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), loss, hair or eyelash pulling, mood dysregulation, and sibling conflict. They refer for educational testing, comprehensive psychological evaluations, difficult divorce cases, play therapy, complex cases requiring more than 20 sessions, and children of staff employed by the practice.
The practice features a separate waiting room for psychology patients and front office staff dedicated to managing their schedules. “For anyone who’s trying to make a psychology appointment but can’t be seen in an efficient manner or wants a different day or time, we keep an ongoing move-up list,” Dr. Einhorn said. “If a family calls to cancel an appointment, the front desk person who makes that cancellation will fill out a slip and give it to one of our psychology schedulers. That person will create a move-up list and start filling that appointment. If there’s a cancellation, it’s rare that it goes unfilled.”
Key forms for parents to complete include informed consent, a notice of privacy practices, a late cancel/no show policy, an initial intake agreement, and a summary of parent concerns.
Patient and clinician reaction
According to results from a recent survey of parents whose children were seen by a psychologist at Parker Pediatrics and Adolescents, 89% said it was important for their children to receive mental health services in the same location as their medical care, and 96% were satisfied with the services provided. In addition, 93% said that the experience benefited their child, 72% were satisfied with appointment times, and 55% expressed interest in virtual visits via telemedicine. Meanwhile, a survey of parents whose children have not been seen by a psychologist at the practice found that 65% knew a psychologist was on staff, and only 9% said that there were barriers to their child seeing a psychologist there.
Clinicians themselves benefit from having mental health specialists on site for referrals. “It enables you to be more efficient, and it saves time,” Dr. Rabinowitz said. “There’s knowledge and confidence gained, and it improves satisfaction because physicians don’t have to stay at the office later filling out referral forms. It meets the needs of your patients and their families, it attracts new patients, and you may be able to make some income on this.”
How to get started
Dr. Rabinowitz recommended that, once clinicians at a pediatric practice commit to expanding their services to include mental and behavioral health care, they should hold a corporate/partner meeting, assign responsibilities, and establish a timeline for implementation. “This is all very important,” he said. “Then you have to talk about what kind of arrangement you want to have. You could employ someone to join your practice, hire an independent contractor, establish a space share agreement, or have an out-of-office arrangement.”
For many years, clinicians at Parker Pediatrics and Adolescents had a psychologist perform ADHD evaluations on a consultative basis. “Then, as we saw a need for mental health services about a decade ago, we hired a part-time psychologist who did testing as well as counseling,” Dr. Rabinowitz said. “But that psychologist got very busy, so we hired a full-time psychologist. We continued to hire additional psychologists as need increased.”