The following was prepared by the UMass Center for Integrated Primary Care, for more information about CIPC courses for behavioral clinicians, physicians, and other members of the primary care team, visit: www.umassmed.edu/cipc Daniel Mullin, PsyD MPH, director of the Center for Integrated Primary Care (CIPC), began his involvement with primary care transformation more than a […]
If you are a clinician you know the feeling. It’s that moment in a care process with a patient where you could do more or choose to do less. You battle internally to decide what to do and ultimately you know you can’t live with yourself if you choose to do less. That’s our moment as […]
5 minute read My first job after postdoctoral training was at a family medicine residency program in central North Carolina. It was exactly what I wanted: a combination of direct patient care, graduate medical education, and program development. I took over for Dan Marlowe, another medical family therapist who left to join the faculty at […]
Five minute read “She was visibly upset while she talked about the confrontation with her brother,” I said. “And then suddenly she stood up, arms wide open, asking for a hug.” “And what did you do?” my clinical supervisor asked. “What else could I do? I gave her a hug!” My supervisor smiled. “I want […]
7 minute read From the fifth floor window of the resident lounge, I could see the downtown Chicago skyline in the distance from Hinsdale Hospital. The Hinsdale Family Medicine Residency building was across the street from the hospital I would call home for the next 3 years, connected by an underground tunnel that came in […]
5 minute read “Welcome to day one of your integrated care practicum. The first step you’ll take is to purchase two books and begin reading them right away. OK, let’s talk about Centricity!” Fall semester of 2009. I am a new student in the Medical Family Therapy doctoral program at East Carolina University (ECU). My […]
By Neftali Serrano, PsyD, 2 Minute Read In recent years, the struggle to retain and recruit behavioral health providers has intensified within primary care. A closer examination of this trend reveals a significant underlying cause: the selection bias rooted in the mental health provider training process. This bias not only shapes the career preferences of […]
5 minute read Is the Healthcare System Ready? Our current integrated care models break down silos between physical and behavioral health, allowing for comprehensive screening, warm handoffs, care coordination, and streamlined referrals. Many patients, though, have unmet social, material, AND behavioral health needs. Here are some examples. • A 40-year-old man experiencing homelessness struggles to […]
5 minute read A Provocative Question Recently, I attended a session on healthcare workforce development at the Arizona State of Reform conference in Phoenix. The State of Reform is a national organization that facilitates healthcare policy meetings across the country. This session focused on problems and opportunities related to healthcare workforce in Arizona. During the […]
5 minute read Most people wouldn’t think of CVS, Kroger, Walgreens, Walmart or Costco as their primary care home. Even fewer would consider these retailers as their behavioral health provider location. However, each of these retail giants is reaching for larger portions of the health care marketplace to supplement their core business. Consumers, frustrated […]
Behavioral health services have become increasingly vital in healthcare, reflecting the growing demand for mental health care providers. To meet this need, significant policy changes and updates have been introduced to improve access to behavioral health services. In this blog post, we’ll explore the new proposed physician fee schedule for 2024 and its potential impact […]
Three years ago the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA) set out to report on the spread of integrated care across the United States primary care system. Our initial report on findings in 2020 elicited interesting findings on the breadth and types of care being provided. Here we provided updated data which appears to demonstrate greater […]
3 minute read In spring 2022, CFHA CEO Neftali Serrano approached the Primary Care Behavioral Health Special Interest Group (PCBH SIG) to begin the work of catalyzing standardized outcomes for measuring success in a PCBH environment. This invitation was warmly received as the role of the PCBH SIG is to grow interest and enthusiasm, provide […]
5 Minute Read There is no single issue in the movement to integrate physical and behavioral health system that trumps the workforce shortage and training problem. Primary care needs a moonshot initiative to bridge that gap. I have some ideas. They are mine alone – I can’t speak for all of the Collaborative Family Healthcare […]
Maybe one of the only positives of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increase in attention to the long-standing crisis in behavioral health and the movement to address the systemic barriers which prevent people from getting care. President Biden has announced a national strategy to address the mental health crisis. The Department of Health and […]
3 minute read. Original post available here Returning to the PCBH (Primary Care Behavioral Health) world after a week off is always an exciting, yet frightening experience. My mind always worries when returning to clinical work. “Will I still be able to do this?” “Do I still got what it takes?” And, then, all that doubt […]
Five minute read The title of this post is a terrible pick-up line, but it reflects my musings on how we identify patients in primary care who may benefit from behavioral health services. Health screening is standard practice in primary care. We screen for physical health, mental health, substance use, health behaviors, family functioning, social […]
5 Min Read. Filling that integrated care position at your clinic feel tough? You are not alone. Positions for mental health professionals of all types in primary care have grown in the last few years (see our job board and our map) and the options for mental health professionals have also expanded with telehealth uptake, […]
