The National Council Resource Center for Primary Care and Behavioral Health Collaboration builds on more than eight years of work in this area and serves as a valuable source for information and practical resources for providers, policymakers, and community stakeholders working to provide primary and mental healthcare across delivery systems. As interest and support for integrated primary and behavioral health grows, providers need access to clinical, organizational, and financial tools.
Webinar: Understanding Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Integration
Co-hosted with Mental Health America
Wed, September 15
2:00 pm eastern, 1:00 pm central, 12:00 pm mountain, 11:00 am pacific, 10:00 am alaska
Register for Our Free Webinar
Individuals bring their medical and behavioral health problems with them to both medical care and specialty behavioral health care. Efforts to promote primary and behavioral healthcare integration (PBHCI) are taking hold across the country. What is integration and what does it exactly mean for access to mental and substance use services?
This webinar is an essential primer for staff, consumers, and others who need to hear how primary and behavioral healthcare integration is becoming a vital part of the behavioral health system of care. Register and invite others to join us for this special event co-hosted by the National Council and Mental Health America.
Presenter
Laurie Alexander, PhD
Laurie Alexander is a behavioral health consultant specializing in integrated healthcare. Prior to consulting, she worked for the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health in Texas. In her role as program officer, she was responsible for the foundation’s integrated health care activities, including a demonstration grant program, policy work, and a comprehensive resource guide. Ms. Alexander also has experience in mental health advocacy and completed postdoctoral training in public health and traumatic stress. She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a M.A. in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.
Video Reports
Learn how members of the National Council's Primary Care Mental Health Collaborative Care Project, Phase III are integrating primary and behavioral healthcare in:
Are You Ready to Become an FQHC?
The National Council LIVE webinar, “Are you ready to become a Federally Qualified Health Center?” was presented on August 12, 2010 by Pamela J. Byrnes, PhD, Director for the Health Center Growth and Development, National Association of Community Health Centers. This webinar examined the range of health center models, the application process, and operational issues required to become an FQHC. Listen to the webinar recording and access the presentation.
In The News
Mental Health Community Case Management and Its Effect on Healthcare Expenditures
This journal article written by Joseph Parks, MD; Tim Swinfard, MS; and Pauk Stuve, PhD found that people with severe mental illness served by public mental health systems have rates of co-occurring chronic medical illnesses that of two to three times higher than the general population, with a corresponding life expectancy of 25 years less. Treatment of these chronic medical conditions in those with serious mental illness is often substandard, with many receiving no treatment at all. Much of the treatment they do receive comes from costly ER visits and inpatient stays, rather than routine screenings and preventive medicine.
Patient Centered Medical Homes: Caring for the Whole Person
With team-based care management as a key component of the Patient Centered Medical Home, behavioral health providers have an opportunity to demonstrate the quality and cost benefit of adding mental health and substance used services to the primary care setting and of adding primary care to specialty behavioral health settings. Barbara Mauer in National Council Magazine...
Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative Releases Two Reports on Medical Homes
The Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative, of which the National Council is a member, has released two new reports on payment reform and medication management.
New Brief Outlines Barriers to Integrated and Accountable Care
A new data brief from the Commonwealth Fund presents the results of a recent survey of healthcare opinion leaders on the barriers to system delivery innovations and integrated care… Read More
Primary Care-Behavioral Health Collaborative Participants Featured in Mental Health Weekly
Primary and Behavioral Health Integration efforts in the fourth phase of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare’s Primary Care-Mental Health Collaborative Care Project were recently featured in the July 19 issue of Mental Health Weekly… Read More
Study Offers Evidence on Screening for Drug Use in Primary Care
A new research study asserts that a single-question screen for drug use is valid and could lead to more widespread implementation in primary care practices… Read More
Integration and Public Policy
Visit the Collaborative Care section of the National Council's Policy Action Center for up-to-date policy information and resources on primary and behavioral health integration.
