Purpose of Stage 1
Define the scope of change through a vision of integrated care, self-assessments, and strategy setting which can include the insight of patient partners.
The Stage 1 Workbook is the planning group's blueprint to Integrate Behavioral Health and Primary Care (IBH-PC). The four steps in each stage contain detailed activities on how to achieve your goal. Consider including patient partners as members of the Planning Group for valuable insight.
Two Approaches for tackling the Stage 1: Planning Workbook
Each of these approaches has produced effective results. You can also switch between approaches as you gain experience with the Toolkit.
For a more detailed description of both approaches, please read: How To Use The Stage 1: Planning Workbook
Approach 1
Your practice prefers to move through all analytic steps of planning a complex change
Approach 2
Self-assess which of the Stage 1: Planning Workbook steps are most valuable to your practice, and download individual Stage 1: Planning Steps one at a time.
Your practice prefers to build on its experience of managing change and can decide when to carry out different steps, skip around to later steps, or return to previous steps.
Stage 1: Planning Workbook Resources
Testimonial
Family Medicine Practice Behavioral Health Integration
A rural clinic included its 19 trainee residents, rotating medical students, and advanced registered nurse practitioner students in a project to improve behavioral health (BH) integration. The clinic expanded access to BH providers, standardized office workflow, refined patient communication, increased transparency of BH services, and enhanced cultural competency. Clinicians used EPIC to identify patients in need, manage warm hand-offs, and conduct behavioral health brief interventions.
After three months, the providers noticed improved levels of Hemoglobin A1C in diabetic patients, and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores in patients with anxiety and depression. The practice also saw a higher frequency of wellness visits and childhood immunization completions, and patients who received a BH service expressed greater satisfaction with overall treatment. Ultimately, EPIC smartphrases were found to be ineffective and the practice transitioned to clinic SOAP templates.
Overall, the clinic found that Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care led to better diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders in patients with comorbid conditions.