Pediatric-Child Psychiatry Collaboration in a Health Maintenance Organization

The author describes a collaborative program between the child psychiatry and pediatric services of a prepaid group practice plan that included weekly meetings between the psychiatrist and the pediatric staff, meetings also involving other disciplines, and clinical evaluations of referred patients. The advantages of this kind of approach, especially its educational and preventive aspects, are described, and it is proposed as a possible model for interdisciplinary work that will help realize the goal of comprehensive health care.