Psychiatric services : a journal of the American Psychiatric Association
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Self-harm rates among U.S. adolescents have risen substantially. Health and social outcomes among contemporary self-harming youths are infrequently tracked and poorly understood. This study investigated long-term health service utilization (emergency department [ED] visits and inpatient admissions) and inpatient costs among a recent cohort of adolescents with deliberate self-harm. ⋯ Deliberate self-harm among adolescents was found to be associated with long-lasting and costly patterns of health service utilization, often but not exclusively for psychiatric complaints. Future research should investigate the pathways underlying these associations and incorporate service utilization as a key patient outcome.
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The study examined the use of telepsychiatry in U.S. mental health facilities between 2010 and 2017. ⋯ Nearly twice as many U.S. mental health facilities offered telepsychiatry in 2017 than in 2010. Medicaid funding lagged behind other funding sources, suggesting state administrative barriers. Telepsychiatry was commonly used by facilities in medically underserved and rural areas.