Behavioral Health is Health
Imagine seamless services instead of service silos. Or leaving a visit with your physician or nurse practitioner, with an appointment later that day or the following day to speak to a trusted professional about your stress or sleepless nights. That’s the vision behind behavioral health integration, and Delaware clinicians are joining a nationwide movement to build the care teams and communication to make it a reality.
The first group of practices participating in the Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) pilot gathered on Feb. 22, 2018, for a daylong learning collaborative in Dover. More than 55 people attended from practice teams, and were joined by representatives from the Delaware Health Information Network, the Delaware Division of Public Health, the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, and the entire Health Management Associates (HMA) practice-coaching team. Participants engaged in discussions, networking, teaching, and team action planning. Each practice team shared its goals and vision for their BHI work and participated in breakout tracks for the collaborative care model, referral/relationship building, and colocation and integration of primary care into behavioral health organizations. Specific primary care and behavioral health practices formed relationships, and then began making plans to implement integration models. Delaware’s expert consultants from Health Management Associations spent time with each practice, and initiated action planning and setting future coaching sessions.
Learn more about the consortium.
