Behavioral health problems significantly affect people’s health and quality of life, and often exist alongside physical health problems. Speakers in a one-hour webinar on December 10, 2014, discussed the benefits of integrating behavioral health into primary care, especially for low-income individuals, drawing on lessons from the Safety Net Medical Home Initiative, a five-year demonstration that was supported by The Commonwealth Fund, Qualis Health, and the MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation at the Group Health Research Institute.
What: Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care
Who: Jurgen Unutzer, M.D., chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of Washington, and director of its Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions Center; Andrea Fox, M.D., chief medical officer of the Squirrel Hill Health Center in Pittsburgh; Marty Abdo, a certified peer specialist and peer bridger at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Washington; and Melinda Abrams, vice president for Health Care Delivery System Reform, The Commonwealth Fund.