The Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) is a network of 12 regional hubs seated in academic health-related institutions across Texas that assist providers to meet the mental health needs of children and adolescents.

These services include: (1) consultation with child psychiatrists on differential diagnosis, medication recommendations and management assistance, (2) experienced therapist assistance for needs such as identifying appropriate therapies, behavioral health and safety planning and validated mental health referrals and resources personalized to the need of that patient, (3) a toolbox of screening tools for a wide range of mental health concerns (e.g., depression, anxiety, non-suicidal self-injury), and finally (4) support for clinics who would like more information on developing a practice crisis intervention plan.

Think of CPAN like a curbside consult with a child psychiatrist and an extra referral coordinator all wrapped-up into one simple phone call.  All services are funded  through the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium (TCMHCC) and are provided at no cost to the provider, clinic, family, or health plan.

The CPAN team at The Health Science Center at UT Tyler (HSC) includes three child and adolescent psychiatrists, two licensed professional counselors, and a public health nurse. This team of professionals support the 25-county Northeast Texas region.

 

Consultation Expectations

When calling for a consultation (888-901-2726, choose option 1, then option 3), one of our behavioral health specialists will answer your call.  A few basic pieces of information will be gathered to ensure you are provided the appropriate assistance by our team. If your call requires a consultation with a child and adolescent psychiatrist, you may request a return call right away or schedule it for a later that day.  Calls requested  ASAP will be returned within 30 minutes.  Services such as mental health referrals and resources, safety planning, behavioral health plans, mental health screening tools and community resources will be handled by the behavioral health specialist, who is an experienced licensed professional counselor.

The psychiatric consultation is a brief discussion on treatment options or diagnostic clarification, including medication management, non-pharmacologic interventions, diagnostic tools and/or therapy (including specific therapeutic modalities).

• If diagnosis related, questions will be asked to clarify or help establish a working diagnosis. Additional assessment tools may be suggested to help with diagnostic clarification.
• If medication related, calls may include discussion on mechanism of action, time of onset, side effects, and dosing (increases, decreases, cross-tapers).

 

Preparing for a Consult

Providers should have basic patient information available when calling, including patient’s name or initials, date of birth, medical record number, zip code, race/ethnicity and gender.  We also ask for insurance in case we need to research referrals/resources for you.

Additionally, consider the following questions, as they may be asked by the child psychiatrist when assessing your patient’s specific situation:

Safety:  Are there concerns about the patient’s safety?

Specific Behaviors:  What behaviors are causing complaints?

Setting:  Where are the behaviors occurring – at school?  At home? Both?

Stressors:  Are there specific stresses at home – Divorce?  Losses?  Housing or food insecurity?

Services:  What services have been tried up until now?

 

Service Areas

The CPAN team at The Health Science Center at UT Tyler serves 25 counties in Northeast Texas.

Business Hours  

Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., excluding institutional holidays.

Call 1-888-901-CPAN (2726), when prompted press ‘1’ and then ‘3.. If you have general CPAN questions, would like to enroll, or schedule a virtual or in-person presentation. You can also email us at .