Title
Integrated behavioral health practice facilitation in patient centered medical homes: A promising application
UMMS Affiliation
School of Medicine; Senior Scholars Program; Commonwealth Medicine, Office of Program Development
Faculty Mentor
Debra Hurwitz
Publication Date
2017-06-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Health Services Administration | Medical Education | Mental and Social Health
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of behavioral health (BH) integration change in patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) when using a practice facilitator (PF) specially trained in implementing integrated care and how a quasi-experimental design assists in this process.
METHOD: Twelve PCMHs, 8 Federally Qualified Health Centers and 4 private practices, with varying degrees of BH services participated in this study. The degree of BH integration was assessed with a quasi-experimental design using the Maine Health Access Foundation's Site Self Assessment (MeHAF SSA) at baseline and after implementing site-specific BH services. The sites tracked completion of unique objectively measured goals being implemented using the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) score.
RESULTS: At the conclusion of the study, sites saw a statistically significant increase in the level of BH integration from a baseline of 2.73 (SD = 0.44) to a postintervention score of 3.49 (SD = 0.22) with improvements from mild-moderate overall integration to moderate-advanced overall integration (p < .001). In addition, 10 out of the 12 sites achieved successful implementation of unique goals with assistance from the PF.
DISCUSSION: This study provides the first quasi-experimental/pretest-posttest evidence utilizing real-world data that the practice facilitation method is an effective solution toward increasing the degree of BH integration. This paper describes the real-world efforts to evaluate the degree of BH integration change in PCMHs when using a PF with content expertise in BH integration within primary care.
Keywords
patient-centered medical home, behavioral health care
DOI of Published Version
10.1037/fsh0000273
Source
Fam Syst Health. 2017 Jun;35(2):227-237. doi: 10.1037/fsh0000273.
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Families, systems and health : the journal of collaborative family healthcare
Related Resources
PubMed ID
28617023
Repository Citation
Roderick SS, Burdette N, Hurwitz D, Yeracaris P. (2017). Integrated behavioral health practice facilitation in patient centered medical homes: A promising application. Senior Scholars Program. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000273. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/ssp/253
Comments
First author Sarah S. Roderick participated in this study as a medical student as part of the Senior Scholars research program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.