Receive consultations to better support the behavioral health needs of child and adolescent patients

Jul. 2025What's New

The Telephonic Psychiatric Consultation Service Program (TiPS) is a Pennsylvania HealthChoices program that gives primary care providers access to free, on-demand consultations with child and adolescent psychiatrists, typically within 30 minutes. It is available to providers of children and adolescents who have Pennsylvania Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, or UPMC Health Plan commercial insurance.

Primary care providers can partner with TiPS psychiatrists for telephonic, virtual, and face-to-face consultations. During these sessions, providers can:

  • Receive consultative advice regarding behavioral health concerns in a child up to age 21.
  • Obtain referrals for care coordinators when behavioral health services are needed.
  • Ask general questions related to mental health or substance use, such as those around medications, diagnoses, screening tools, resources, and other topics.

TiPS also offers training and education, including conferences with free CME courses. Click here to reference our TiPS flier.

Contacting TiPS
There is no fee for practices to enroll in TiPS. Please use the appropriate phone number for your designated HealthChoices region to speak to your regional team and get started. You can refer to the DHS TiPs page for additional guidance.

Northwest and Southwest Pennsylvania (Northwest and Southwest zones)
UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics
Phone: 1-844-WPA-TiPS (1-844-972-8477)

Northeast and Central Pennsylvania (Northeast and Lehigh/Capital zones)
Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Phone: 1-800-233-4082 (press 3)

Southeast Pennsylvania (Southeast Zone)
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Phone: 267-426-1776

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Please join us for a live, CME-accredited webinar on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026 that will educate providers on identifying advanced directives and surrogate decision makers on admission.
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UPMC Health Plan Tapestry Link is scheduled to go live on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2026. To help prepare you for this launch we will be hosting a live training session on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, from noon to 1 p.m. to help you familiarize yourself with the platform. During this training we will discuss:
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Changes are coming for network providers that utilize Provider OnLine to submit specific information to UPMC Health Plan. Select activities that were previously completed in Provider OnLine will now transition to UPMC Health Plan Tapestry Link.
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