This web-exclusive Health Affairs article looks at the results of a survey of physicians conducted in 2004-5 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and finds that many primary care physicians have difficulty obtaining outpatient mental health services for their patients. The article uses this fact to examine some of the implications for mental health parity and barriers to providing mental health care. The author concludes that implementing mental health parity will reduce some but not all of the barriers to care. 

Cunningham, P. J. (2009). Beyond parity: primary care physicians' perspectives on access to mental health care. Health Affairs, 28(3): w490-501. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.w490 http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/w490 

Author: Peter J. Cunningham