National Council Magazine - Winter 2009 - 14

Project Report Learning Collaboratives Enhance Population Health Barbara J.Mauer, MSW, CMC, MCPP Healthcare Consulting and Senior Consultant, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare; Laura Galbreath, MPP, Director of Policy and Advocacy, National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare A s more communities realize the value of primary and behavioral health collaboration, they now have more working examples to learn from. The National Council’s Primary Care-Behavioral Health Collaborative project has provided a wealth of valuable outcomes that will help further this growing movement. Council has adopted for this project is based on 20 years of pioneering work by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the application of that work in the Health Disparities Collaboratives sponsored by the Health Resources and Services. LEARNING COLLABORATIVE GOALS >> Increase ability of primary care clinics to screen for bipolar, addictions, and suicide risk as a part of depression screening. >> Increase capacity of primary care clinics to provide proactive follow-up and management of patients identiﬁed with depression. >> Increase community mental health organizations’ provision of psychiatry training and clinical support for primary care, to enable a more comprehensive stepped care model. >> Establish processes for ongoing communication regarding collaborative care between primary care and community mental health organizations, including: > Protocols for referral of individuals with bipolar disorder and suicide risk from primary care clinics to community mental health organizations, to assure seamless transition from primary care to specialty mental healthcare. > Return of stable patients to primary care follow up as appropriate. >> Establish shared methods for medical management of patients treated in community mental health settings who are at risk for metabolic syndrome. >> Increase capacity of both primary care and community mental health organizations to document and track care processes and performance. The Primary Care-Behavioral Health Collaborative project started with four Phase 1 sites in January 2007. Each site is a partnership between a mental health agency and a community health center. The ﬁrst sites were located in Massachusetts, Iowa, Montana, and Washington. Phase 2, the focus in this article, expanded into an additional eight sites in fall 2007: >> Colorado: Colorado West Regional Mental Health and Summit Community Care Clinic >> Colorado: North Range Behavioral Health and Sunrise Community Health >> Florida: Life Stream Behavioral Center and Thomas E. Langley Medical Center >> Illinois: Heritage Behavioral Health Center and Community Health Improvement Center >>Indiana: Porter-Starke Services and HealthLinc >>South Dakota: This site dropped out a few months into the project due to a loss of provider capacity in the primary care clinic >>Texas: Austin Travis Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Community Care Services Department >>Washington: Navos and Neighborcare High Point GETTING STARTED When the Phase 2 sites were convened for their initial learning session in September 2007, they were provided training in rapid cycle improvement, evidence-based practices related to delivering behavioral health services in primary care, and Continued on page 17 A 2007 National Council survey of community behavioral organizations revealed that although 91% of respondents place high or medium priority on increasing the quality of general medical healthcare for their clients, only one in two providers has the capacity to provide any treatment for those conditions, and one in three has the capacity to provide the services onsite. The most common barriers to providing general medical services were problems in reimbursement (72.1%), workforce limitations (68.4%), physical plant constraints (60.8%), and lack of community referral options (55.8%). The National Council’s Primary Care-Behavioral Health Collaborative Project — funded in part through the generosity of AstraZeneca and BristolMyers Squibb — is intended to help member organizations and their partnering primary care sites overcome some of these barriers and collaborate effectively to provide integrated healthcare. The learning collaborative model that the National The National Council Learning Collaborative emphasizes rapid cycle improvements, evidence-based practices, and data collection to improve outcomes for populations served through partnerships between community behavioral health and primary care providers. 14 / NATIONAL COUNCIL MAGAZINE • WINTER 2009
National Council Magazine - Winter 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of National Council Magazine - Winter 2009
