According to HealthDay (3/11, Mundell ), a report has found that “the cost to American families of caring for a child with a mental health condition rose by almost a third between 2017 and 2021…to an average $4,361 per year.” Altogether, “American families spent an estimated $31 billion in 2021 on child mental health services, which now make up nearly half (about 47%) of all child medical spending, the report found.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Medical Costs for Kids’ Mental Health Jumped 31% in 5 Years,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, March 11, 2024

PatientEngagementHIT says, “The number of behavioral health visits to community health centers soared by nearly 40 percent between 2018 and 2022, but if these care sites are to continue to meet patient demand, they’ll need more federal funding, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.” The report also “showed an overall increase in behavioral health visits – meaning mental health and substance use disorder visits – of 38 percent between 2018 and 2022. This increase is largely driven by an influx of mental healthcare encounters in community health centers, the data showed.”

Related Links:

— “Behavioral healthcare access in community health centers up 40%,”Sara Heath, PatientEngagementHIT , March 11, 2024

Healio (3/8, Weldon) said, “Four children born with HIV who initiated ART within 48 hours of delivery later remained in treatment-free remission for over a year after ART was paused, researchers reported.” The data were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
HealthDay (3/8, Mundell ) reported that in the study, “four out of six newborns infected at birth with HIV went into long-term remission after prompt treatment with antiviral drugs.” All of the children “began receiving ART within 48 hours of delivery, in an effort to drive HIV into remission. When they reached the age of 5, doctors interrupted each child’s ART to see if their remission held without medication.”

Related Links:

— “Four children achieve treatment-free HIV remission for 1 year,”Rose Weldon, Healio, March 8, 2024

Healthcare Finance News (3/8, Lagasse ) reported, “At a rate of 72.3%, patients receiving opioid treatment through in-network insurance overwhelmingly stayed in treatment for at least 180 days, in comparison with those who were either out-of-network or uninsured and paying for treatment with cash, a new study finds.” Published in Health Affairs Scholar, the study found that “compared to cash-pay patients, those who could use in-network benefits had almost twice the retention rate for six months of treatment, a quality benchmark established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.” Additionally, “uninsured cash-pay patients had a 48.1% retention rate, which was higher than the 37% six-month retention rate of insured out-of-network cash-pay patients.”

Related Links:

— “Insurance coverage improves opioid use disorder treatment retention,”Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare Finance News, March 8, 2024

Psychiatric News (3/8) reported, “A meta-analysis…suggests that biperiden, mirtazapine, and vitamin B6 are the three most effective treatment options for” patients with “antipsychotic-induced akathisia.” Investigators analyzed “data from 15 randomized clinical trials testing potential pharmacotherapies for akathisia in people taking antipsychotics.” Altogether, “the combined data included 492 patients, 324 of whom received an active drug and 168 received placebo.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Mirtazapine and Vitamin B6 May Be Best Options for Antipsychotic-Induced Akathisia, Psychiatric News, March 8, 2024