Congratulations to our 2024 Bree Collaborative award winner for Best Practices in Pediatric Psychotropics.

• Community Health Plan of Washington
• UW Medicine & UW Physicians
• Kaiser Permanente

Among psychotropic medications prescribed to children and adolescents, antipsychotics have great potential for overuse. These drugs are often prescribed for aggressive or impulsive behaviors rather than psychosis and are associated with patient harms in a developing brain. The workgroup met from January to November 2016 to recommends strategies to improve the appropriateness of antipsychotic drug prescribing to pediatric patients supported by behavioral health service organized by the following focus areas:

• Conduct initial medical and psychological evaluation using appropriate assessment.
• Ensure that the patient and family has access to comprehensive, family-centered psychosocial care whether within the primary care setting through integrated behavioral health care or through a supported referral.
• Use evidence-based, best practice antipsychotic prescribing recommendations such as from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
• If antipsychotics are prescribed, manage side effects including monitoring for changes in weight blood glucose (HgA1C), cholesterol, and other metabolic changes (baseline and at regular intervals).

Supporting Materials

Letter from Health Care Authority Accepting Pediatric Psychotropic Use Report and Recommendations
Pediatric
Psychotropic Use Charter

Workgroup Members