Presenters
- Bridget Beachy, PsyD, Director of Behavioral Health, Community Health of Central Washington, Yakima, WA
- Emily Faust, PhD, Behavioral Health Consultant, Community Health of Central Washington, Yakima, WA
Summary
We know the pandemic has been particularly hard on frontline clinicians and BHCs (and their respective leaders) are no exception. When organizational leaders and clinicians alike are facing obstacles such as the ones surfacing in these unprecedented pandemic times, it is common to go into preservation mode and to let quality control and other “requirements,” such as the peer chart review process, suddenly “go by the wayside” or to be moved to the bottom of the “to do list.” However, implementing (and maintaining) peer chart reviews in primary care and in other healthcare settings are often mandatory and they can also be instrumental in the pursuit of delivering high quality healthcare (Staton, Kraemer & Patel, 2007). Additionally, with regards to Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH), the peer chart review process can help support novice (as well as seasoned) BHCs as they strive to maintain habits that contribute to fidelity (Beehler et al., 2017; Funderburk, Polaha & Beehler, 2021). Many leaders and clinicians might start to cringe at the prospect of restarting or implementing peer chart review obligations at this time; however, this presentation addresses this year’s conference theme, “Celebrating frontline integrated healthcare workers,” by demonstrating how one can create a BHC peer chart review form that clinicians working in PCBH can find both clinically (and operationally) meaningful (Funderburk et al., 2021; Robinson et al., 2018; Robinson & Reiter, 2016) while simultaneously striving to reduce their burden. The presenters will provide a road map to help individuals and organizations develop a form that is meaningful and aligned with the core messaging of BHCs’ training (e.g., GATHER; Reiter, Dobmeyer & Hunter, 2018) albeit straightforward and deliberately focused on reducing the burden on the BHCs who will be completing these peer chart reviews. Keeping our BHCs upskilled, engaged and supported has never been more important in light of what many are deeming the “Great Resignation,” which has hit healthcare particularly hard.
Objectives
- Delineate three benefits of the peer chart review process.
- Describe the rationale behind the chart review items to help them determine which items align with their organizational goals (e.g., PCBH fidelity).
- Describe at least three strategies for reducing the burden on the BHC peer chart reviewers.