Despite efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion has increased access to primary care, as well as the availability of behavioral health services, including treatment for both mental health and substance use disorders. However, increasing the availability of health and behavioral health services requires an increase in providers. Several federal programs support training…
The use of office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) programs has increased in recent years and requires integrated teams of professionals with different kinds of expertise working together. These care teams present opportunities for interprofessional training. This article describes a study that conducted interviews with health professionals on OBOT teams to examine the provider composition of these…
Increasing awareness of the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) has prompted health systems to implement strategies to screen for and address patient SDOH. With the increased awareness comes the question of what workforce is needed to implement SDOH screening and related interventions? To answer, this research must be conducted for which healthcare workers screen for…
The current opioid crisis in the United States is a recognized national health emergency. The number of opioid-related deaths has more than quadrupled since 1999. Over 42,000 individuals died from opioid use in 2016 alone. To combat this epidemic, primary care providers are expanding clients’ access to care, particularly to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs, also…
Evidence supports that integrated behavioral health care improves patient outcomes. Colocation, where health and behavioral health providers work in the same physical space, is a key element of integration, but national rates of colocation are unknown. This article establishes national colocation rates and analyzes variation by primary care provider (PCP) type, practice size, rural/urban setting,…
As one of the largest groups of clinically trained mental health providers in the United States, social workers are increasingly deployed on integrated health teams to address patients’ social determinants of health and provide behavioral health interventions. However, information about the specific content of social work practice in new models of healthcare is limited, and…
Social workers are increasingly employed as part of integrated health teams. However, little is known about what barriers to practice social worker face as part of these interprofessional teams and their practice settings. This article describes a study that surveyed 395 social workers across the country who were employed as part of integrated health teams…
More social workers in primary care clinics now work as part of integrated behavioral healthcare (IBH) teams. Understanding how many of these social workers are co-located with primary care physicians is important to ensure that planning and training align with current models of care. This article described a review of the data on social worker…
Because 60–80% of all primary care visits include a behavioral health component, providing integrated services in primary care is now considered a priority for health systems as they strive to meet patient needs and improve population health. Integrated care typically involves behavioral healthcare workers such as social workers and psychologists working on teams with primary care…
Providing integrated behavioral health services in primary care is now considered a priority for health systems as 60–80% of all primary care visits include a behavioral health component. Integrated care typically involves behavioral healthcare workers, such as social workers and psychologists, working on teams with primary care providers to help address behavioral health and social…
