Behavioral Health Integrator

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 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 webinar series will highlight the intersection between health information technology and behavioral health services and considerations. In the first webinar, a joint collaboration between the HITEQ Center and the National Council for Behavioral Health, we introduced the series and the planned topic areas to be covered as well as explore other suggested topics from the participants. 

Many health centers provide behavioral health services; others work closely with community partners who provide behavioral health services to their patients. One of the biggest challenges for health centers is determining how to integrate data between the two services. The HITEQ Center recently published the resource Utilizing and Integrating Behavioral Health Data into a Health Center’s Primary Care Services. This webinar introduced the Center for Integrated Health Solutions' Standard Framework for Levels of Integrated Healthcare and provided some guidance of how to integrate care regardless of which model of care is being provided. Dr. Rina Ramirez, Chief Medical Officer of Zufall Health, shared her experiences of integrating behavioral health data. Zufall Health which has a traditional Behavioral Health Department, recently started an Integrated Behavioral Health program within primary care, and partners with an external behavioral health organization who focuses on people with Serious Mental Illness.