Partners For Kids recognizes Coshocton Behavioral Health Choices

Partners For Kids recognized Coshocton Behavioral Health Choices for its ongoing commitment to improving follow‑up care after a mental health crisis.

In 2024, Coshocton Behavioral Health Choices partnered with Partners For Kids to launch a quality improvement project aimed at increasing follow‑up rates for children who visit an emergency department during a behavioral health crisis. Over the past year, they developed a new process for identifying these patients and conducting timely outreach. 

By connecting to CliniSync- a health information exchange that provides real‑time alerts when patients are admitted to or discharged from a hospital – they can now proactively contact families as soon as a notification is received. Reflecting on their progress, the team shared that they were most proud of “how successfully we were able to integrate Clinisync into everyday practice in a way that genuinely strengthened care coordination and improved data reliability. Over the past year, we transformed Clinisync from a new system into a meaningful tool that enhances how we serve clients.”

Recognizing the value of this approach for all clients – not just those attributed to Partners For Kids – they also created a manual tracking tool to monitor every patient and ensure consistent support during periods of heightened stress. As they noted, “timely and intentional follow‑up after a crisis is one of the most powerful interventions we have —both for client safety and for long‑term engagement in care.”

Introducing the new tool, however, was only the first step. The team initially encountered challenges related to staff comfort, understanding, and readiness to incorporate CliniSync into daily workflows. While the system itself was straightforward, integrating it into established habits and documentation practices required additional coaching, adjustments and changes to the process. Through multiple PDSA cycles testing different ways to operationalize the tool, Co‑Executive Director Tyra Hixon observed that “implementing Clinisync was not simply a technology upgrade, it was an opportunity to strengthen collaboration, standardize practices, and build a more integrated, data‑driven culture across the agency.”

Partners For Kids is proud of Coshocton Behavioral Health’s commitment to using quality improvement methods to ensure patients receive the support and services they need, especially during times of crisis. CBHC has successfully developed and integrated a promising practice that helps ensure children who experience behavioral health crises receive timely follow‑up care.

If you would like to learn more or get involved in the Partners For Kids Quality Improvement Coaching Program, contact pfkqicoaching@NationwideChildrens.org.