Washington Partnership Access Line

What is the Washington Partnership Access Line?

The Partnership Access Line (PAL) supports primary care providers (doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) with questions about mental health care such as diagnostic clarification, medication adjustment or treatment planning. Our child and adolescent psychiatrists are available to consult during business hours.

PAL has a master’s-level social worker available to assist with finding mental health resources for your patients. PAL is also partnered with Washington’s Mental Health Referral Service for Children and Teens, where families can speak directly with a referral specialist.

The PAL program is funded by Washington’s Health Care Authority and is available to providers caring for any pediatric patient (ages 0 – 19) in Washington, regardless of insurance type. The phone consultation is covered by HIPAA, section 45 CFR 164.506; no additional release of patient information is required to consult by phone.

PAL also partners with Frontier Behavioral Health to offer the Supporting Adolescents and Families Experiencing Suicidality (SAFES) program, which is funded through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration administered by Washington State Department of Health.

Call 866-599-7257 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific time, to be directly connected to a PAL child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Medication Review Program

Second-opinion medication reviews are requested from the state when psychiatric medication is prescribed outside of state guidelines. A review will be triggered for:

• Children receiving 2 or more atypical antipsychotics (AAPs)
• Children age 5 or younger receiving psychotropic medications
• Children receiving 5 or more psychotropic medications
• High doses (ADHD, AAPs, antipsychotics)

It is important to note that Seattle Children’s Hospital psychiatrists are one step in the state-mandated medication review process. We do not set state guidelines or flag specific medications, but we do believe in the value of peer review and provider-to-provider collaboration. Please contact us if you have questions at 206-987-2702 or by email.

Provider Resources

• PAL publishes Primary Care Principles for Child Mental Health yearly. This guide is based on current evidence in the literature about mental health treatments in children. It is a digestion of current knowledge into focused practical points for the primary care physician.
• Providers can earn CME by attending our mental health conferences free of charge.
• Programs offered in partnership with the University of Washington:
  • Perinatal Psychiatry Consultation Line for Providers: PAL for Moms is a free state-funded program providing perinatal mental health consultation, recommendations and referrals for providers in Washington State caring for pregnant or postpartum patients.
  • Psychiatry Consultation Line (PCL): The PCL offers prescribing health care providers in Washington State the opportunity to consult with a UW Psychiatrist about adult patients (18+) with mental health issues or regarding general questions related to mental health and psychiatric care.