The National Research Council/Institute of Medicine’s Adolescent Health Services: Highlights and Considerations for State Health Policymakers

In May 2006, the National Research Council/Institute of Medicine’s (NRC/IOM’s) Board on Children, Youth and Families (BCYF) convened the Committee on Adolescent Health Care Services and Models of Care for Treatment, Prevention, and Healthy Development. With funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies, the committee conducted a study of health services for adolescents ages 10-19 in the United States and issued a report, Adolescent Health Services: Missing Opportunities. The National Academy for State Health Policy has written this paper based upon that report to highlight aspects of the publication most relevant for and applicable to state policymakers, who play an important role in improving adolescent health. The adolescent health care system suffers from problems similar to the rest of the U.S. health care system, including a heightened focus on acute and episodic care, and fragmentation that causes specialty services to be unaffordable or inaccessible. States, in their roles as purchasers, regulators, and coordinators, have the opportunity to improve the adolescent health care system in a variety of ways to better meet the unique needs of this population.  

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