Improving Screening for Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health in Primary Care.

StudyAmerican journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality· Aug 2026

Improving Screening for Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health in Primary Care.

Ulfat Shaikh, Anna B Correa, Jennifer Monti … Cheryl Courtlandt

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Adolescent MedicineStudyQ3IF 0.8

Adolescent substance use screening rates more than doubled after quality improvement program.

Improving Screening for Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health in Primary Care.

Ulfat Shaikh … Cheryl Courtlandt

American journal of medical quality · Aug 2026 · Q3 in General Medicine

Background

Mental health and substance use can coexist and worsen outcomes for youth.

Purpose

The goals of the Transformative and Evidence-based Approaches to Mental Health and Substance Use Screening (TEAMSS) quality improvement virtual learning collaborative were to enhance the implementation of screening and follow-up practices for adolescent substance use and mental health issues in primary care.

Methods

TEAMSS engaged 160 clinicians at 27 pediatric primary care clinics in 18 states.

Results

substance use screening more than doubled after the program

More results

Depression screening increased from 82% to 90%, anxiety screening increased from 32% to 69%, and suicide risk screening increased from 18% to 41%.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

TEAMSS significantly improved care for substance use, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk for adolescents at participating primary care clinics.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Adapting a learning collaborative approach to a virtual setting requires close attention to maintaining engagement with clinical care teams, especially those in busy primary care clinics.

Improving Screening for Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health in Primary Care.

Improving Screening for Adolescent Substance Use and Mental Health in Primary Care.

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