3.60 Screening for Medical Comorbidities in the Outpatient Pediatric Psychiatric Setting

Effective treatment of mental illness symptoms cannot occur without treatment of overlapping medical illnesses, such allergy/asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, and bowel issues. Mental health texts and professional guidelines do not offer targeted recommendations beyond the general medical and developmental medical histories. To this end, a quality improvement initiative was conducted involving the following: 1) an educational module on general medical screening; and 2) a checklist to improve detection, decision making, and counseling on general medical issues.