A Note from the CQC Senior Director
by Crystal Eubanks
Patients, providers, health plans and purchasers all agree that behavioral health integration (BHI) is necessary for better care, better experiences by patients and care teams, better outcomes and better value.
- October is National Depression and Health Screening Month, aiming to increase awareness around mental health needs and interventions. CQC is helping primary care teams and organizations to integrate behavioral health screening and treatment within primary care.
We have released two new resources to guide organizations in their improvement initiatives to integrate behavioral health services:
- A toolkit to implement Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) screening
- A comprehensive BHI learning curriculum for self-directed learners within primary care teams and for use by improvement collaboratives of peer organizations
Our new toolkit highlights a key strategy for managing stress: supportive relationships. We are excited that we were able to host our first in-person training workshop since 2019, CQC’s Improvement Coaching Workshop. We’re looking forward to more face-to-face connections like these in 2022!
How to Integrate Behavioral Health Care into Primary Care
CQC created the Behavioral Health Integration Improvement Collaborative (BHIIC) Curriculum to support health care provider organizations looking to integrate behavioral health services and primary care.
Why it matters: Integrating behavioral health into primary care is essential for health care organizations looking to provide patient-centered, high-quality whole person care.
- Evidence shows integration improves patient outcomes and quality of life while increasing access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.
- Today, behavioral health integration (BHI) is incentivized by purchasers and plans paying for behavioral health screening and including mental health and substance use measures in pay-for-performance quality programs.
The bottom line: Health care providers need to invest in their integration journey now to be ready for advanced primary care and to better provide care that meets patients’ physical and behavioral needs.
Best Practices for ACE Screening in Primary Care
CQC released a new toolkit with best practices for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) screening and follow-up in primary care.
- The toolkit is a collection of evidence-based interventions and resources for ambulatory care provider organizations to implement ACEs screenings and follow-up care.
- It was developed through interviews with primary care organizations throughout California and features case studies from leading organizations.
These resources are part of California’s landmark ACEs Aware project, a statewide Department of Health Care Services initiative supporting providers to begin screening and treatment for childhood toxic stress, which contributes to negative health outcomes.
For a deeper look: We held a webinar earlier this month where the toolkit author, Sandra Newman, and bright spot organizations, Los Angeles County Department of Healthcare Services and Santa Rosa Community Health, shared how care teams can offer immediate support with no additional resources to promote healing among patients and families.
Recap: CalHIVE Improvement Coaching Workshop
CQC held our first in-person training since 2019 at the CalHIVE Improvement Coaching Workshop in Riverside.
With all the stressors felt by health care workers, it’s essential for teams to dedicate time for learning, collaboration and deep connection. Since the CalHIVE Network’s launch in October 2020, participants have spent 37 hours learning virtually together, but this was the first time teams had the chance to meet each other off-screen.
- The two-day session focused on fundamentals of quality improvement and successful practice engagement, with real-world examples and dynamic exercises for teams to practice applying the concepts.
- One attendee shared after, “It’s so important for teams to speak the same language and utilize tools that drive towards our goals.”
Teams walked away feeling recharged, with strategies supporting resilient leadership, impactful tools and renewed commitment to try new ways to improve patient care. Stay tuned for announcements about public CQC training events in 2022.
Events
CQC Resilient Primary Care Webinar: Insights into Virtual Patient Engagement
Access the webinar materials in case you missed this session highlighting insights from a statewide survey on telehealth experience for Medi-Cal patients and hear challenges and early successful practices from providers working to improve telehealth:
CQC Webinar: Increase Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Screening
Learn from provider organizations describe how they have trained care teams, designed workflows for screening and integrated healing strategies at the point of care and within their communities:
Partner Resources
- Global Learning Partners: Learn more about their new course on Learning Evaluation By Design, starting January 2021.
- Integrated Healthcare Associations: Register now for their Virtual Stakeholders’ Conference (November 3, online).
