The transformation to becoming designated as a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has been a challenge for many practices, but the advantages of increased credibility in the market place and even increased payments from some payers have been a powerful motivator. The transformation towards adding behavioral health as part of primary care has been recognized and undertaken by other practices in order to develop the improved services for their patients and to get the benefits of the support and improved satisfaction for their providers. Some practices who have attempted both of these transformations in sequence have reported “change fatigue” on the part of providers and staff.  With the increased inclusion of behavioral health elements in the most current PCMH standards, it has become both possible and desirable for practices to make both transformations at the same time. We offer here a “cross-walk” of the elements of the behavioral health elements in the patient-centered medical home and an authoritative list of elements to integrated behavioral health practice.

 

As part of the transformation to the PCMH, the role of practice transformation facilitator has become important and is widely in demand. Many of the people who undertake this role have skills in quality improvement and practice innovation, but are not knowledgeable about integrated behavioral health. In order to provide an experience for people in this role, a training program for a group of practice facilitators in NH was offered by the NHPCBH Workforce Initiative.  The modules from that program are offered as a training opportunity for anyone else in the role of practice transformation facilitator.  It is our hope that more practices that are attempting to achieve PCMH recognition will take the opportunity to make a behavioral health clinician a permanent part of their healthcare team.