With the rapid shift to telehealth services propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, many community health centers had to rapidly transition to a mechanism of care delivery previously unknown and unfamiliar. Within a matter of days and weeks, health centers creatively found ways to transform workflows and approaches to care delivery to continue to provide care even if the patient was physically distant. This resource highlights promising practices in virtual integrated behavioral health care identified from community health centers. 

Patient engagement through electronic health apps are one solution to the need for timely and ongoing patient support. Join us to discuss a program to support mental health through an integrated behavioral health model using a mental health app at Cambridge Health Alliance. The session discussed how apps can address gaps in mental health care, the lessons learned in effective implementation of use of a mental health app in a safety-net clinic, and provide a rubric for evaluating health apps for your patients and use in your mental health service.

Join the HITEQ Center, in collaboration with the National Council for Behavioral Health, for a webinar on understanding from a beginner perspective, how to integrate HIV prevention, screening into integrated behavioral health services, including how to identify patients at risk for HIV with a focus on SUD, facilitate screening, and prompting for rescreening at appropriate intervals.

Join the HITEQ Center, in collaboration with the National Council for Behavioral Health, for a webinar on Documentation Tips when using the Collaborative Care Model for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care. The webinar provided a brief overview and benefits of the collaborative care model as well as information specific to each of the main staff roles. The role-specific nuances of documentation were highlighted, including considerations for tracking data such as clinical activities accomplished with each patient during the month.

This webinar is the second in a series highlighting the intersection between health information technology and behavioral health services. The webinar explored key components to be built into an electronic health record in order to better address suicide prevention in health care. Decision support considerations, documentation and communication enhancements, as well as population health management strategies were discussed.

This decision tree, developed through funding from the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) helps organizations determine if Part 2 of CFR 42 applies to them. It should be noted that FQHCs will always be designated as “federally assisted” due to certified status as Medicaid providers and/or federal funding.

The timely exchange of health information between behavioral health providers and physical health providers to support care coordination is a critical element of the National Quality Strategy and health reform efforts. However, privacy and confidentiality concerns are currently limiting the inclusion of behavioral health data in electronic health information exchange efforts.

Health centers are actively expanding the substance use treatment services they offer in the community to address access to care for opioid use disorders, and more broadly to address better screening, referral and timely access to all substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The downloadable case study below is an example of how a health center is assessing operations to comply with 42 CFR Part 2, with a particular focus on changes to their health information technology (IT) systems.

The HRSA Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Technical Assistance (COE for BHTA) helps grantees integrate substance use and mental health (behavioral health) services in primary care settings.

Patient privacy and confidentiality form a crucial component of the patient-doctor treatment relationship, particularly when seeking treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. Multiple federal privacy laws, in addition to state laws, provide privacy protections for mental health and substance use disorder treatment records, while permitting communication of these records to other healthcare providers, patients’ families, and others.

Many health centers collaborate with external behavioral health providers or provide co-located or integrated behavioral health services within their health center. Some of the most significant challenges are determining which data to share, how to store it within the Electronic Health Record, and how to use it within primary care. This compendium of literature and resources offers some guidance related to behavioral health data integration, complete with key health center considerations for each.