Pharmacy Education and Resources for Providers

Shared Decision-Making in Child Psychiatry: Insights From Philadelphia’s Family Peer Supports

Shared decision-making is a clinical approach in which the experience and expertise of the prescriber, patient, and family are regarded as equally important. Shared decision-making is characterized by collaboration, flexibility, and information-sharing that is initiated and sustained over time by the clinician.

Why Does This Matter? Clinician/parent disagreement has been linked with treatment dropout, whereas shared decision-making has been associated with greater treatment satisfaction. Discussion of patient and family member preferences is associated with achieving agreement in decision-making.

This information resource includes recommendations to clinicians from family peer support specialists in Philadelphia; the input is based on the experiences of peer support specialists when seeking care for family members within the CBH network of providers.

• Shared Decision-Making in Child Psychiatry: Insights From Philadelphia’s Family Peer Supports

The ability of a Member to continue accessing medication is a crucial consideration in discharge planning, yet it often needs to be adequately addressed. Hospitals can address this issue by creating and implementing a discharge medication plan. This plan can help to remove barriers to medication access, provide appropriate medication education, promote follow-up after hospitalization, and reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates. By lowering barriers to medication access following discharge, hospitals can significantly improve outcomes and enhance the quality of life for their Members.

See the Discharge Medication Planning Tip Sheet for Acute Inpatient Psychiatric Providers, Clinical Care Managers, and Case Managers

The CBH Pharmacy Team has created an LAI fact sheet for its Providers:

• Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotics (LAIs) Fact Sheet

Despite being available for over 45 years, long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) remain an underutilized treatment option for people with serious and persistent mental illness. These injectable medications can help patients better manage their condition and improve long-term outcomes by preventing relapses and enhancing medication adherence.

• American Psychiatric Association (APA) Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia (2020)

LAIs are used primarily for individuals who struggle with adherence to antipsychotic medications. LAIs have been demonstrated through research to help:

• Improve adherence
• Reduce the occurrence and frequency of symptom relapse
• Reduce rehospitalization
• Improve treatment outcomes for this population

If you are a pharmacy within the Philadelphia area that offers LAI services and is not listed in the above resource, please contact the CBH Pharmacy Team at cbh.pharmacyinitatives@phila.gov.

Effective treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), including medication, is available to CBH members.

Among the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications for OUD, there are three long-acting injectables (LAIs) available that do not need to be dosed daily:

• Brixadi® (buprenorphine)
• Sublocade® (buprenorphine)
• Vivitrol® (naltrexone)

These LAIs expand the treatment options that are available to members with OUD. Benefits of LAI medications for OUD may include:

• Helping maintain steady levels of medication
• Improving adherence to treatment
• Improving treatment satisfaction

For more information, please download our Long-Acting Injectable Medications for Opioid Use Disorder tip sheet.

Psychotropic medications affect a person’s behavior, mood, thoughts, or perception. There are different types of psychotropic medications, including:

• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Anxiolytics
• Mood Stabilizers
• Stimulants

Clients may have to get lab work done if they are on certain medications, such as antipsychotics or mood stabilizers. They may measure the drug levels or other lab values to ensure the medication is helping and safe for the client.

• CBH Guide to Psychotropic Medications for Case Managers

Several of CBH’s Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) utilize the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®), a widely used set of performance measures in the managed care industry. CBH developed these HEDIS tip sheets in partnership with collaborating providers and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Medicaid MCOs that participate in the HealthChoices and Community HealthChoices programs as a resource for providers to summarize HEDIS metrics and parameters:

• Diabetes Screening for People with Serious Mental Illness Who Are Using Antipsychotic Medications
• Diabetes Monitoring for People with Schizophrenia and Diabetes
• Comprehensive Diabetes Care for People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI): Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Poor Control (>9/0%)
• Cardiovascular Monitoring for People with Cardiovascular Disease and Serious Mental Illness
• Adherence to Antipsychotic Medications for Individuals with Schizophrenia
• Antidepressant Medication Management
• Provider Lab Tip Sheet
• Tips for Initiating and Engaging Members After Hospital Visits for Mental Health or Substance Use
  • Spanish Language Version
• Tips for Following Up After Hospital Visits for Mental Health or Substance Use
  • Spanish Langauge Version