Your feedback is requested on the Bree Collaborative’s latest draft report and recommendations for Behavioral Health Integration. Please read the documents and take our survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZT5H7NP. The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete. Comments must be received by 5pm on Friday, February 24th.
Summary of Recommendations
Mental illness and substance use disorders, together called behavioral health, are common and often go untreated due to stigma, lack of screening, and lack of access to appropriate care. Integrating behavioral health care into primary care, and primary care into behavioral health care has been proposed as a solution, but integration has been variable and inconsistent. The Bree Collaborative elected to address this topic and convened a workgroup to develop recommendations focusing on common elements across different integrated models including the following minimum standards:
* Integrated Care Team
* Patient Access to Behavioral Health as a Routine Part of Care
* Accessibility and Sharing of Patient Information
* Practice Access to Psychiatry Services
* Operational Systems and Workflows to Support Population-Based Care
* Evidence-Based Treatments
* Patient Involvement in Care
* Data for Quality Improvement
About This Public Comment Process
* The Behavioral Health Integration workgroup reviews and uses public comments to develop the report submitted to the Bree Collaborative for adoption. * The final report is submitted to the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA). This state agency oversees Washington’s largest health care purchasers - Medicaid and the Public Employees Benefits Board Program (PEB).
* Collaborative recommendations guide state purchasing policies for these programs.
* The Collaborative also works to promote implementation of the recommendations across Washington State
