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CARE PROVIDER AGREEMENT

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The Shodair Connect Program is funded by Shodair Children’s Hospital. The intent of the Shodair connect program it to support primary care providers, pediatricians, and other psychiatrists in Montana who are managing patients with a psychiatric illness so that those patients can continue to be managed within their practice. This patient group includes children and adolescents through the age of 18.

1. Shodair Connect is not an emergency/referral service—emergency consultations over the phone or in person are not provided. If a provider calls about a case requiring an emergency intervention, the patient will be referred to the most appropriate local emergency service.
2. Shodair Connect psychiatrists do not provide ongoing treatment or direct the medication management of the provider’s patients, but rather provide education and guidance to provider’s concerning medication and treatment options. For those cases beyond the scope of the provider’s practice, the psychiatrist may provide referrals to regional or statewide providers.
3. Educational phone consultations by the Shodair Connect psychiatrist are provided to the provider’s for medication and dosing questions, diagnostic dilemmas and general patient management questions. These telephone “curbside consultations” do not create a physician-patient relationship between the psychiatrist and the patient. However, it is requested that the provider inform the patient and/or caretaker that he/she will be discussing their situation with a consulting psychiatrist.
4. Because the phone consultation is educational in nature, the psychiatrist will not request identifying information about the patient. The psychiatrist will respond to queries using language such as “in cases like this” or similar general language. No medical record will be maintained by the psychiatrist with regard to these questions or situations. General information about the call (nature of question, patient disposition, etc.) will be maintained by the Shodair Connect for evaluation and quality purposes.
5. In the patient’s record for the provider requesting the consult there should be no mention of Shodair Connect, Shodair Children’s Hospital, or the consulting psychiatrist’s name. The provider may document that a consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist occurred but may not use identifying information.
6. Shodair Connect accepts no liability regarding these consults. The consultations are strictly educational and informational in nature. All suggestions made from Shodair Connect psychiatrists are recommendations and the provider should still use their clinical judgement regarding all cases.
7. As part of the program, participating PCPs may be asked to complete surveys to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in increasing provider’s confidence and competence in treating behavioral health issues in their patients.