Behavioural Health Screening and Service Use in a Statewide Sample of MedicaidEligible Pediatric Outpatients

Review Data

Q: Is the topic relevant to the journal area of interest? Is it contemporary and interesting for

researchers?

A: Very good

Abstract & Keywords

Q: Are all required components included in the abstract? Are the keywords appropriately chosen?

A: Very good

Goal

Q: Is the goal explicitly stated in the Introduction? Is its formulation clear and unambiguous?

A: Very good

Structure

Q: Is the paper's structure coherent? Is it in coherence with the goal of the paper?

A: Good

Tools and Methods

Q: Are methods the author uses adequate and well used?

A: Good

Discussion & Conclusion

Q: Is it related to the results presented before? Do you consider them as coherent?

A: Very good

Comments: The Discussion section aptly analyses the relationship between site-level overall screening, positive screening and behavioural health (BH) service utilization rates by evaluating the screening rates and BH service billing using site and patient-level data. Results suggest that there are significant differences between sites in rates of BH screening and positive screening which are considered meaningful. It provides some cause for concern which needs to be resolved so that the quality of Children’s Behavioural Health Initiative (CBHI) screening programme can be improved.

Literature

Q: Does the author utilize relevant literature?

A: Very good

Author's knowledge

Q: What is the level of the author’s knowledge? Does the author utilize all recent contributions relevant to the topic?

A: Very good

Length

Q: Is the length of the paper adequate to the significance of the topic? Do you suggest shortening the paper without losing its value?

A: Good

Figures & Tables

Q: Does the author use them suitably? Are legend and notations clear?

A: Good

Writing style

Q: Is it clear and understandable?

A: Good

Further comments on the paper

Comments: This study, involving 287,042 pediatric patients presented for well-child visits (WCV) between 2014-2018 across 908 sites statewide, analyses the relationship between site-level rates of behavioral health (BH) screening, positive screening and BH service use in statewide data from the largest Medicaid Health Maintenance Organization in Massachusetts. The findings of this study not only suggest the importance of BH screening rates as a key factor to predict the likelihood of BH service use for pediatric patients but also discovers a disparity in access to BH services since the rates of BH screening and of prior and subsequent BH services vary widely across sites. This study also addresses few questions including the decrease in screening rates which call for further research.

Q: Would you recommend this manuscript for further publication?

A: Yes - Suitable to be published

If you have any questions and clarifications you can write to the journal.

Thanks,
Science Repository Team