X
GO
Incredible Behavioral Health Integrator Badge

HITEQ Health Center Cybersecurity Defender Against the Dark WebHealth centers are increasing the integration of behavioral health in primary care, spurred by an increased focus on whole person care and additional funding. Effective use of health IT in conjunction with patient privacy and confidentiality is imperative to support behavioral health.

According to the Office of the National Coordinator, "Health information technology can help to improve behavioral health care and can further enable care coordination and integration, increase information sharing, and support prevention, treatment, and recovery activities. Access to and the exchange and use of behavioral health information as part of routine care can help to improve continuity in care services and support efforts toward achieving an interoperable health care system across the continuum."

Take some time to read through some of the articles on this page and then fill out the submission form on the right and you will be rewarded with a Health Center Incredible Behavioral Health Integrator badge! This is an official badge that is submitted by the HITEQ Center as a proof of completion to the blockchain. Your credentials can be added to profiles such as LinkedIn and verified through accreditation services such as Accredible and Open Badge.

Using the EHR to Facilitate Integrated Behavioral Health
Promising Practices in Virtual Integrated Behavioral Health Care

Promising Practices in Virtual Integrated Behavioral Health Care

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. 

HITEQ Highlights: Deploying Smartphone Apps to Advance Mental Health in Primary Care

HITEQ Highlights: Deploying Smartphone Apps to Advance Mental Health in Primary Care

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.

HITEQ Highlights: HIV Prevention and Treatment for patients with SUD in an Integrated Behavioral Health Setting

HITEQ Highlights: HIV Prevention and Treatment for patients with SUD in an Integrated Behavioral Health Setting

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.

HITEQ Highlights: Documentation Tips when using the Collaborative Care Model for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care

HITEQ Highlights: Documentation Tips when using the Collaborative Care Model for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care

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.

HITEQ Highlights: Enhancing the EHR for Suicide Prevention

HITEQ Highlights: Enhancing the EHR for Suicide Prevention

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.

RSS
Patient Privacy and Confidentiality: 42 CFR Part 2 and Consent Management

Telehealth Policy during Coronavirus/ COVID-19 Pandemic

Updated 11/16/2020 with NIST Guidance on Securing the Telehealth Remote Monitoring Ecosystem

We are adding additional telehealth information, including policy and regulatory developments, relevant to coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic as it impacts health centers as it becomes available. Please see the resource links below.

 

  • CMS Loosens Restrictions on RHC and FQHC Telemedicine Services – COVID-19 Updates

    • Published by BKD on April 10, 2020.
    • Key Information: Coding and regulatory requirements for implementing telehealth in accordance with CMS's loosened restrictions. Effective March 27, 2020, the CARES Act removed restrictions in place prior to the COVID-19 emergency, and now allows FQHCs to serve as distant site providers for telehealth audiovisual (but not audio-only or telephone) visits, and these can be rendered to new or established patients. CMS also added 80 codes to the existing list of eligible telehealth (audiovisual) services.

 

  • Telehealth Coverage Policies In The Time Of COVID-19 to Date

    • Published by the Center for Connected Health Policy, updated regularly in March and April 2020.
    • Key Information: Telehealth waivers under Medicare and Medicaid are in place, as well as DEA actions permitting prescriptions for controlled substances via telemedicine. Scroll to the bottom of the page for FQHC specific information.

 

 

 

 

  • Telehealth and Telephone Visits in the Time of COVID-19: Sample FQHC Workflows

    • Published by the Center for Care Innovations, March 24, 2020.
    • Key Information: Many health centers and safety net clinics are switching their scheduled in-person visits to telephone or video visits, this resource provides some sample workflows and guidance for how clinics are making this transition, including examples from eClinicalWorks, NextGen, and OCHIN Epic. 
    • An appointment rescheduling flowsheet from a health clinic is available from NEMJ.

 

  • COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Response and 42 CFR Part 2 Guidance

    • Published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on March 19, 2020.
    • Key Information: There has been an increased need for telehealth services, and in some areas without adequate telehealth technology, providers are offering telephonic consultations to patients. In such instances, providers may not be able to obtain written patient consent for disclosure of substance use disorder records. The prohibitions on use and disclosure of patient identifying information under 42 C.F.R. Part 2 would not apply in these situations to the extent that, as determined by the provider(s), a medical emergency exists.

 

  • State Data and Policy Actions to Address Coronavirus

    • Published and updated March and April 2020 by Kaiser Family Foundation.
    • Key information: This site is tracking state-by-state policy actions such as state waivers of cost sharing for COVID-19 testing, state waivers of prior authorization requirements, early perscription refills, and expanded marketplace insurance enrollment.
    • Other important sources of state information are Medicaid Federal Disaster Resources which includes details on each state’s 1135 Waiver as approved by CMS and the Center for Connected Health Policy's tracking of COVID-19 related state actions.

 

Print
37806
More Behavioral Health Integration Resources for Health Centers
HRSA Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Technical Assistance

HRSA Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Technical Assistance

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.

Focus: PHI

Focus: PHI

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.

Behavioral Health Integration Compendium

Behavioral Health Integration Compendium

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.

RSS

Acknowledgements

This resource collection was cultivated and developed by the HITEQ team with valuable suggestions and contributions from HITEQ Project collaborators.

Looking for something different or have something you think could assist?

HITEQ works to provide top quality resources, but know your needs can be specific. If you are just not finding the right resource or have a highly explicit need then please use the Request a Resource button below so that we can try to better understand your requirements.

If on the other hand you know of a great resource already or have one that you have developed then please get in touch with us by clicking on the Share a Resource button below. We are always on the hunt for tools that can better server Health Centers.

Request a Resource  Share a Resource
Search HITEQ Content
Behavioral Health Integrator Badge
Highlighted Resources & Events
The Quadruple Aim
Quadruple Aim

A Conceptual Framework

Improving the U.S. health care system requires four aims: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, reducing per capita costs and improving care team well-being. HITEQ Center resources seek to provide content and direction aligned with the goals of the Quadruple Aim

Learn More >