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.