Bridging the Gap: How The Collaborative Care Model Integrates Behavioral Health into Primary Care

We’ve all been there, sitting in our primary care physician’s office for an annual physical, only to find ourselves discussing anxiety or psychosocial stressors. Or perhaps you’ve brought your child in for a mental health concern, only to be met with dishearteningly long waitlists.

In an ideal world, your primary care provider (PCP) would be equipped to address all of your concerns. Primary care settings are often the first, and sometimes only, point of contact for many patients’ behavioral health-related issues. However, we don't live in an ideal world. A scarcity of resources, workforce shortages, and inadequate reimbursement create significant barriers to integrating behavioral health into primary care. From extensive waitlists to insufficient staffing, primary care faces an almost impossible task.

The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), developed by the AIMS Center out of the University of Washington, offers a solution by bridging the gap between physical and mental health. CoCM is an evidence-based, patient-centered model that provides a team-based approach focused on the whole person. “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 encourages the development of integrated approaches to health care as a means of both improving quality and lowering overall costs, with a focus on a central role for primary care,” (Sanchez K., 2017). By integrating this model into primary care settings, patients and caregivers gain direct access to support, reducing the need to wait for additional assistance.

Below is an outline of the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM):

Collaborative Care Management (CoCM) enhances access to care and provides an opportunity to meet patients where they are, while simultaneously reducing the stigma associated with behavioral health. By offering patients access to support, providers can intervene at lower levels of severity and treat the whole person, leading to improved health outcomes.

The CoCM team works together in the patient's best interest, and includes the patient, a Behavioral Health Care Manager, the Primary Care Provider (PCP), and a Psychiatric Consultant. The Behavioral Health Care Manager plays a crucial role, primarily working with the patient and facilitating and coordinating their care. This frees up the PCP's time and contributes to a financially sustainable behavioral health model.