What’s New? The Latest Resources on www.Integration.SAMHSA.gov

The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) continually updates its website to present the best and newest resources and information relevant to integrated primary and behavioral healthcare. Check out some of these new resources or just peruse the site.

INTEGRATED CARE MODELS

• The mhGAP Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) for non-specialist health settings presents protocols for clinical decision-making on conditions including: depression, psychosis, bipolar disorders, epilepsy, developmental and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents, dementia, alcohol use disorders, drug use disorders, and self-harm/suicide.
• Fragmentation of the health care system can lead to disjointed care and can result in increased health care costs. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s new issue brief, Integrating Physical and Behavioral Health Care: Promising Medicaid Models, examines five promising approaches currently underway in Medicaid to better integrate physical and behavioral health care – universal screening, navigators, co-location, health homes, and system-level integration.

 FINANCING

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance on same day billing in Medicare that strengthens support for integrated primary and behavioral healthcare.
• The Business Case for the Integration of Behavioral Health and Primary Care and the companion excel tool can assist you in building a sample business case for behavioral health integration. Learn more about these resources and other key teachings from the 2013 NACHC-led Behavioral Health Learning Community.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

• The Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey and the UIC Center on Psychiatric Disability and Co-Occurring Medical Conditions created Promoting Wellness for People in Mental Health Recovery: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning and Conducting a Successful Health Fair to help integrated care sites to reach people with screening, education, and support. Fairs help people learn about their health and support them in making healthy lifestyle choices.
• Clinical Management of Tobacco Dependence in Inpatient Psychiatry: Provider Practices and Patient Utilization examines the clinical management of nicotine withdrawal in smoke-free inpatient psychiatry facilities, particularly the predictors of use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
• The Center on Psychiatric Disability and Co-Occurring Medical Conditions’ Diabetes toolkit provides information to help people with mental illness understand their diabetes or pre-diabetes. 
• The CDC’s Office of Smoking and Health and the Division of Cancer Control and Prevention established The National Behavioral Health Network for Tobacco & Cancer Control in September 2013 to provide stakeholders with tools and resources to reduce tobacco use and cancer among people with mental and substance use disorders.

 CLINICAL PRACTICE

• The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement on Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions in Primary Care to Reduce Alcohol Misuse provides an overview of ways to improve long-term health outcomes, the harms of screening and behavioral health counseling interventions, and influences from the health care system that promote or detract the effectiveness of screening and counseling interventions for alcohol misuse. 
• The Substance Use Screening and Assessment Database, created by the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute Library at the University of Washington, is intended to help clinicians and researchers find instruments used for screening and assessment of substance use and substance use disorders. Instruments whose validity and reliability have been well-studied are marked with a star.
• The Life Event Checklist (LEC) is a brief, 17-item, self-report measure designed to screen for potentially traumatic events in a respondent’s lifetime. The LEC assesses exposure to 16 events known to potentially result in PTSD or distress and one item assessing any other extraordinarily stressful event.

 WORKFORCE

• The workforce section of the CIHS website includes up-to-date resources relevant to the core competencies and to all parts of the integrated care team. It’s worth a visit, even if you have been to those webpages in the past.
• CIHS engaged the Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce to develop Core Competencies for Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care. You can use the nine competencies to shape workforce training, inform job descriptions, recruit ideal candidates, orient staff to the integrated care model, and complete performance assessments. Check out the overview on Using the Core Competencies for more information.
• The Essential Elements of Effective Integrated Primary Care and Behavioral Health Teamsidentifies four essential elements for effective integrated behavioral health and primary care teams and provides a roadmap for organizations designing their own teams, using examples from these best practices. Read the summary and the full report. 
• The Integrated Healthcare Curriculum for Schools of Social Work prepares Masters of Social Work students for behavioral health practice focused on integrative and collaborative primary-behavioral healthcare. The curricula focus on Clinical Practice and Policy & Services.

 OPERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATION

• CIHS developed the Workflow Workbook to help SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) grantees examine the business processes and workflows for the integration of primary and behavioral health care and also to support participation in Meaningful Use. Diagrammed examples of PBHCI grant-related workflows include:
  Primary/Behavioral Health Care Integration Project Intake (existing BH patient) Primary Care Workflows from the National Learning Consortium (with data collection points to Meaningful Use)

Services Authorization Workflow (payer identified)

• The Partners in Health Toolkit  by the Integrated Behavioral Health Project (IBHP) and the California Mental Health Services Authority’s (CalMHSA) Statewide Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Initiative reviews multiple aspects of partnerships, including models, interagency agreements, and HIPAA provisions agreements.
• “The Ten Minutes at a Time (or less!)” Health Information Technology Library offers concise, voice-narrated PowerPoints, packed with information for PBHCI grantees and behavioral health providers about Stage 1 Meaningful Use and Project Management. The library offers easy access to the technical assistance and training provided to more than 50 PBHCI grantees through the HIT Supplement grant.

eSOLUTIONS

• Medication Assisted Treatment: A Standard of Care focuses on the importance and opportunity for integrated care providers to implement MAT. Articles include five training resources on MAT, how grantee San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (CA) uses MAT, and SAMHSA’s Opioid Dependence toolkit.
• Our Opportunity to Serve Veterans features CIHS’ Veterans resource guide, highlights Centerstone Military Services’ (TN) work with veterans and their families, and offers tips for serving veterans in your center.
• The Gifts Peer Providers Bring focuses on the unique abilities of peer support providers in strengthening the integrated care team – provides tips for promoting successful peer support services and highlights the peer coaches of PBHCI grantee WellSpring Resources (IL).