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Implementation of Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Services in the Veterans Health Administration: Program Activity and Associations with Engagement in Specialty Mental Health Services

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Abstract

This paper describes the status of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) services implementation and presents an assessment of associations between receipt of PC-MHI services and likelihood of receiving a second specialty mental health (SMH) appointment following an initial SMH encounter. The total PC-MHI service recipients and encounters/month rose substantially between October 2007 and April 2011. Adjusting for important covariates, the likelihood of receiving a second SMH encounter within 3 months of an index SMH appointment was 1.37 times greater among individuals who had received a PC-MHI encounter within 3 months of the initial SMH appointment. Implementation of VHA PC-MHI services has substantially increased VHA capacity to deliver mental health services in primary care and findings indicate that PC-MHI services are associated with greater engagement in SMH treatment. Implementation of VHA PC-MHI services is progressing with new technical assistance strategies being deployed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for Integrated Healthcare, VAWNYHS (116 N), 3495 Bailey Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14215, USA

    Laura O. Wray

  2. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Laura O. Wray

  3. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Evaluation, Office of Mental Health Operations, Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Benjamin R. Szymanski & John F. McCarthy

  4. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health Operations, Washington, DC, USA

    Lisa K. Kearney

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Lisa K. Kearney

  6. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    John F. McCarthy

Authors
  1. Laura O. Wray
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  2. Benjamin R. Szymanski
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  3. Lisa K. Kearney
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  4. John F. McCarthy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura O. Wray.

Additional information

This paper is based in part on a presentation title “Veterans Health Administration Initiatives in Integrated Care” offered by the lead author at the 5th National Conference for the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers in Boston Massachusetts in March 2011.

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Wray, L.O., Szymanski, B.R., Kearney, L.K. et al. Implementation of Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Services in the Veterans Health Administration: Program Activity and Associations with Engagement in Specialty Mental Health Services. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 19, 105–116 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-011-9285-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-011-9285-9

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