The Real-World State of Primary Care Integration: Findings in Arizona

Colleen Clemency Cordes, Ph.D.Clinical Associate Professor

Ronald R. O’Donnell, Ph.D.Program Director

Nicholas A. Cummings Behavioral Health ProgramArizona State University

Collaborative Family Healthcare Association 13th Annual ConferenceOctober 27-29, 2011 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A.

Session #I1-Data BlitzOctober 28, 201110:30 AM

Faculty Disclosure

We have not had any relevant financial relationships during the past 12 months.

Need/Practice Gap & Supporting Resources

• Recent efforts have been made to understand the prevalence of integrated care practices in FQHCs

• Private physician groups provide a significant percentage of care in the United Stateo No effort has been made to date to understand integration

practices

Objectives

• Review current research on the prevalence of integration in FQHCs

• Discuss purpose of the ASU physician survey

• Review early findings of the study

• Identify opportunities to expand the role and prevalence of the behavioral health provider in primary care settings beyond the FQHC or grant-funded practice

Expected Outcome

By the end of today’s session, we hope that you will understand the importance of understanding integration practices in the private sector, as well as opportunities promoting integrated care

Background

• In 2010, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) surveyed FQHCs to determine the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse services providedo 38.9% of FQHCs participated

• 82% reported offering some sort of behavioral health services at at least one of their clinics

• 85.6% of services are provided in a co-located practice

• 86.4% of medical providers had access to behavioral health records

• 75.9% reported join decision-making processes

• 83.7% rating communication between physicians and behavioral health providers as good or excellent

• 90% reported routine screening for depressiono 65% use PHQ-2/9o 17% BDIo 5% MDQo 17% other

• 38.8% routinely screen for SA, 37.4% screen specific subpopulationso 44.5% use CAGEo 36.1% Othero 12% AUDITo 4.1% Mini SSIo 3.1% ASSIST

• Ramifications for SBIRT

CHC Integration in AZ

• ADHS recently surveyed CHCs in AZ on level of integration

• Classified respondents into five levels of collaboration:o Very Low - Minimal Collaborationo Low – Basic Collaboration at a Distanceo Moderate – Basic collaboration on-site

• Separate systems in the same facilityo High – Close collaboration in a partly integrated systemo Very high - Close collaboration in a fully integrated system

Physician Survey Overview

• Integrated care practices are still rare outside of systems such as HMOs, the VA, FQHCs, and CHCs (Walker & Collins, 2009)

• Goal of this project is to better understand the level of integration in the private sector through the state of Arizona

• Data collection ongoing

Research Questions• What are the current practices within primary care practices with

regards to routine screening, assessment, and direct treatment for behavioral health concerns?

• To what extent do physicians utilize local behavioral health agencies as referral targets for their patients? How do providers describe the quality of their relationships?

• What are the current practices in primary care clinics in providing their patients behavioral interventions for medical conditions?

• What are the current staffing patterns of onsite behavioral health providers, and what activities to these providers engage in?

• To what extent do practices identify the significance of behavioral health integration? What do they identify as barriers and benefits to integration?

Preliminary Findings

• Recently piloted survey with a small number of practice groups that are serving as training sites for DBH students

• Goal was to determine acceptability of the survey instrument prior to state-wide dissemination

Findings – Staffing Patterns

Findings – Screening Patterns

Findings – Referral to BHPs

4 = Often

3 = Sometimes

2 = Rarely

1 = Never

Discussion

• Lack of knowledge about how to bill for BHP services remains the primary barrier to integration

• Providers reported being least likely to refer to BHPs for some of their most highly prevalent patient concernso Providers may benefit from education around the role of the BHP in

promoting physical health

• Current survey screen was deemed acceptable length by participating practiceo Wide-spread dissemination and data collection to begin by December

2011

• Thank you!

• Questions?