Kara Hill of Mental Health America of Greater Houston tells us increased access, faster treatment, and higher patient and provider satisfaction are just some of the results achieved by integrating mental health into the primary care appointment.
As the Director of Integrated Health Care Initiative, Kara leads a program aimed at changing how the system delivers care, so behavioral health professionals can operate alongside the PCP team.
The result is a one-stop-shop for patients, who can get their mental health and substance use issues addressed all during a primary care visit.
To create this transformation, the team is creating trainings to teach behavioral health providers how to work with primary care providers, and are also working with both sides to teach terminology specific to the respective fields.
The integrated model also helps reduce the stigma for the patient and allows the behavioral health provider to treat the patient quickly, and frees the PCP to focus directly on the patient’s medial needs.
Check out the full interview to learn more about how Kara and her team are reshaping the way care is delivered.
Topical time codes are below.
Learn more about the the Integrated Health Care Program: https://mhahouston.org/programs/ihci/
Learn more about Mental Health America of Greater Houston: https://mhahouston.org
Connect with Kara Hill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-hill-279a9532/
00:43: About integrated healthcare initiative
2:29: Value of readily available treatment
5:08: Improved results when adding behavioral health providers
7:10: Training behavioral health specialists to work in medical settings
8:49: Patient experience
10:04: Relationship between medical provider and behavioral health provider
13:24: Reception to the program
15:17: Measuring success
17:44: Health equity
19:32: Personal connection and importance of preventing crisis
21:44: Finding an integrated healthcare setting
