Follow-up care after hospitalization for mental illness or intentional self-harm helps improve health outcomes and prevent readmissions. Recommended post-discharge treatment includes a visit with a mental health provider within 30 days after discharge. Ideally, patients should see a mental health provider within 7 days after discharge.
Explore the percentage of discharges for adults in each state who were hospitalized for treatment of selected mental illness or intentional self-harm diagnoses and had a follow-up visit with a mental health provider within 7 days after discharge and within 30 days after discharge. Higher rates are better on this measure.
The purple dashed line represents the median, or middle, of all values reported.
This measure reports state performance on the percentage of discharges among adults age 18 and older who were hospitalized for treatment of selected mental illness or intentional self-harm diagnoses and who had a follow-up visit with a mental health provider within (1) 7 days and (2) 30 days after discharge.
Follow-up visits include:
- Outpatient visits with a mental health provider
- Intensive outpatient encounters with a mental health provider
- Partial hospitalizations with a mental health provider
- Community mental health center visits with a mental health provider
- Electroconvulsive therapy with a mental health provider
- Telehealth visits with a mental health provider
- Observation visits with a mental health provider
- Transitional care management services with a mental health provider
States voluntarily report on Follow-Up After Hospitalization for Mental Illness: Age 18 and Older (FUH-AD) as part of the Core Set of Adult Health Care Quality Measures. These data show performance rates for states that voluntarily reported the measure using Adult Core Set measure specifications.
The included populations for Adult Core Set measures can vary by state. For example, some states include populations in certain programs, such as beneficiaries covered by Medicaid, but exclude beneficiaries in other programs, such as those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. In addition, states may include beneficiaries in some delivery systems, but exclude other delivery systems. For example, a state may include beneficiaries who are enrolled in managed care, but exclude beneficiaries who are covered on a fee-for-service (FFS) basis. This variation in populations can affect measure performance and comparisons between states.
Specifications for this measure changed substantially for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2019. Rates are not comparable with rates reported for previous years.
Source: Mathematica analysis of Medicaid and CHIP Program System (MACPro) reports for the Adult Core Set FFY 2020 reporting cycle as of June 18, 2021; see 2020 Child and Adult Health Care Quality Measures. For more information on the Follow-Up After Hospitalization for Mental Illness: Age 18 and Older (FUH-AD) measure, visit Adult Health Care Quality Measures.
Notes:
The term “states” includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The following states did not report data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for either the 7-day Follow-Up or 30-day Follow-Up rate for this measure: AK, CO, and MT.
The following state reported the measure to CMS, but did not use Adult Core Set specifications to calculate the measure: OR. CMS did not include the rates for this state.
The Adult Core Set specifications include guidance for calculating this measure using the administrative method. Unless otherwise specified, the administrative data source is the state’s Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) and/or data submitted by managed care plans, including behavioral health plans.
Unless otherwise specified:
- States used Adult Core Set specifications, based on National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) 2020 specifications.
- Denominators are assumed to be the measure-eligible population for states using the administrative method. Some states reported exclusions from the denominator, as noted in the state-specific comments.
- The measurement period for this measure was January 2019 to December 2019. AZ and KY reported data for FFY 2019.