Presenters
- Michael Bruner, PsyD, PCBH Program Manager, HealthSource of Ohio, Loveland, Ohio
- Desiree Harding, PsyD, Behavioral Health Consultant, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Amberley Village & Mason, Ohio
- Chava Urecki, PsyD, Staff Psychologist in PC-MHI, Hershel "Woody" Williams VAMC - Charleston CBOC, Charleston, WV
Summary
This session is intended for beginning behavioral health providers working in a primary care medical setting (although we would be thrilled to have interested colleagues and collaborators across all disciplines join us). We appreciated the helpful feedback on our session with the same title last year, which included the suggestion that a Q & A-only session would be preferred. Although all sessions are required to include pre-defined discussion points, we have tried to incorporate this feedback by limiting our teaching points to a more specific topic that can be covered quickly. We will begin with a brief overview of the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model as defined by Reiter, Dobmeyer, and Hunter (2018). Next, we will identify common reasons that BHCs struggle to fill their schedules, especially via warm hand-offs. Finally, we will discuss strategies for overcoming this challenge, consistent with the accessibility and high volume that are hallmarks of the PCBH model. These discussion points will provide some structure to the session, but our primary aim is to allow as much time for Q & A as is possible. Consistent with feedback received last year, we have reduced our panel to three BHCs with experience across primary care settings and populations.
Objectives
- Describe & discuss the Primary Care Behavioral Health Model as defined by recent expert consensus (Reiter, Dobmeyer, & Hunter, 2018).
- Describe and discuss common challenges associated with low BHC volume, including low frequency of warm hand-offs from the primary care team.
- Identify and discuss strategies for increasing BHC accessibility and volume, with an emphasis on generating warm hand-offs.
