Behavioral health integration initiative - indian health council, INC. (IHC) proposes to implement behavioral health integration with other departments in service of the patient-centered home (PCH)…

Behavioral health integration initiative - indian health council, INC. (IHC) proposes to implement behavioral health integration with other departments in service of the patient-centered home (PCH) model, with the goal of improving care for american indian and alaska native individuals in its vast rural service area who use its health and behavioral health systems. IHC will do so by increasing staff cross-training across departments and building upon existing screening and electronic health record infrastructure in order to establish integrated systems of care, and to improve outcomes for its service population. IHC 's leadership and its PCH team have identified solutions to current behavioral health care delivery gaps that will provide comprehensive, culturally informed care to IHC clients who have behavioral health treatment needs, thanks to this BH2I opportunity: 1. Improving workflow in the assessment of behavioral health in primary care: in response to the lack of standardized workflows and organization-wide awareness of PCH model, IHC will integrate care through cross-training and system linkage improvements. 2. Improving or changing health information technology in ways that facilitate behavioral health integration: to reduce patient inhibitions about sharing stigmatizing information with screening assistants, IHC will implement tablet-based screening in addition to face-to-face interviews with staff. 3. Improving physical environment barriers in the delivery of integrated health care: another kind of training we intend to fund with this grant is cross-department training for the front desk staff of each department so that they can learn how to make coordinated appointments for patients in their own and in other departments, including behavioral health. 4. And 5. Cross training of staff, including psycho-education training for staff within primary care settings and basic medical education for behavioral health staff: a key piece in the proposed grant is for cross department training to be offered both using in-service modes as well as through the clinic's new online training support program, relias. The staff in medical, dental and pharmacy will be familiarized with the details of behavioral health department service offerings and procedures via cross-training. 6. Behavioral health integration: through social media and other messaging, the health promotion services department in tandem with IHC's other departments can spell out what some of the systems and training upgrades are so that the community will be aware of the changes made, as a result of these efforts. The evaluation plan will include analysis of records including EHR data on positive screens for potential mental health issues as identified in each of the clinic's departments, together with tracking the follow-through on each patient identified as at-risk.