We support primary care practices to screen for and treat mental illness and substance use disorders so that Montanans can get many of their behavioral health needs met by their primary care team.
In Montana, primary care providers serve as the first line of treatment for many people with mental illness and substance use disorders. Primary care practices in this initiative develop a team-based approach that helps them provide routine screening and prompt, effective care for common issues like depression, anxiety, and substance misuse and builds referral relationships so that people with more severe behavioral health issues can get the care they need without a long wait.
Integrated Behavioral Health Initiative One-Pager
SPOTLIGHT
Integrated Behavioral Health Pediatric Learning Cohort
In 2023, our in-house technical assistance team hosted its first Pediatric Learning Cohort to support our group of grantees working to implement integrated care into pediatrics.
Staff from eight organizations across Montana participated in the learning cohort, which consisted of a six-month training with regular meetings. Attendees shared about their programs and learned from the successes and challenges of others.
The learning cohort concluded with a site visit to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The visit allowed the group to tour the hospital’s facility and learn how it provides integrated patient care.
The site visit was particularly beneficial, as we had an amazing opportunity to learn from a well-established program. The providers at Nationwide gave us tangible steps for furthering integration, offered new perspectives on solving common problems or barriers, and helped expand our network.
Dr. Carly Gysler, PsyD, Benefis Health System Pediatric Psychologist
Participating Sites
This initiative has supported 68 primary care settings across Montana to integrate behavioral health services into their model of care. Integrated care is now available in all large hospitals, federally qualified health centers, and a growing number of critical access hospitals, tribal health departments, and urban Indian health centers.
By the end of 2023, 80% of all adult and pediatric Medicaid patients had access to integrated care in an initiative-funded clinic.
Visit our Grant Library to learn more about each initiative project.
Click a map marker to view details for each past or present participating grantee site.
Our Approach: Integrated Care Model
This initiative uses the integrated care model. “Integrated care” is a team-based approach that helps primary care providers incorporate screening for behavioral health issues into regular health maintenance and acute care visits.
In this model, primary care providers partner with or bring behavioral health providers on board and integrate them seamlessly into their workflows. Care coordinators are also incorporated into the health care team and relied on to coordinate patient care and referrals and connect individuals and families to resources that support health, like safe housing, healthy food, and reliable transportation.
The integrated care model’s benefits include improved patient care, reduced health care costs, support for health care providers, and a solution for solving Montana’s behavioral health provider shortage.
Our Support
We help primary care practices across the state implement integrated care by providing start-up funding and tailored technical assistance. Funding to join the initiative is available to primary care practices that serve a substantial low-income, Medicaid, or other at-risk populations. These include practices based in large hospitals and critical access hospitals, federally qualified health centers, tribal health departments, urban Indian health centers, and rural health clinics. All funding under this initiative is by invitation only.
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Contact
If you have a question about this initiative, please email our program team.