Literature Collection

Little is known about the contributions of practice facilitators in settings aiming to deliver integrated behavioral health and primary care. This scoping review identifies peer-reviewed articles that describe efforts to deliver integrated behavioral health care with the support of practice facilitators. Five databases were systematically searched to identify empirical and conceptual papers. Fourteen articles met the following inclusion criteria: (1) empirical studies evaluating the effectiveness of practice facilitation (n = 4), (2) study protocols that will test the effectiveness of practice facilitation (n = 2), (3) studies that included practice facilitators as part of a larger intervention without evaluating their effectiveness (n = 5), and (4) conceptual manuscripts endorsing practice facilitation for integrated care (n = 3). Practice facilitators can potentially support health systems in delivering integrated behavioral health care, but future research is needed to understand their necessary qualifications, the effectiveness of practice facilitation these efforts, and what study outcomes are appropriate for evaluating whether practice facilitation has been effective.

Little is known about the contributions of practice facilitators in settings aiming to deliver integrated behavioral health and primary care. This scoping review identifies peer-reviewed articles that describe efforts to deliver integrated behavioral health care with the support of practice facilitators. Five databases were systematically searched to identify empirical and conceptual papers. Fourteen articles met the following inclusion criteria: (1) empirical studies evaluating the effectiveness of practice facilitation (n = 4), (2) study protocols that will test the effectiveness of practice facilitation (n = 2), (3) studies that included practice facilitators as part of a larger intervention without evaluating their effectiveness (n = 5), and (4) conceptual manuscripts endorsing practice facilitation for integrated care (n = 3). Practice facilitators can potentially support health systems in delivering integrated behavioral health care, but future research is needed to understand their necessary qualifications, the effectiveness of practice facilitation these efforts, and what study outcomes are appropriate for evaluating whether practice facilitation has been effective.

The Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder provides eligible physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse midwives, who are state licensed and registered by the DEA to prescribe controlled substances, an exemption from certain statutory certification requirements related to training, counseling and other ancillary services (i.e., psychosocial services).

Integrated Behavioral Health is a key solution in addressing significant problems of access and quality of care. This study assessed practice members' perspectives on the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of an integrated care model called Colorado Integrated Behavioral Health Plus (CIBH +) in a large integrated health system. Seven family medicine practices implemented CIBH + . Practice members completed surveys regarding feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness (analyzed with descriptive statistics) and semi-structured interviews (analyzed using a grounded theory hermeneutic editing approach). A total of 156 practice members responded to the survey (62% response rate) and 46 participated in interviews (78% response rate). Respondents indicated high levels of agreement about the perceived feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of CIBH + . Qualitative themes included: (1) observing the benefits to patients and comprehensive team care reinforced the value of integrating care; (2) supports from teamwork, leadership, and telehealth facilitated implementation; and (3) limitations from role clarity, staffing, space, telehealth, and lack of long-term care options remained challenging for implementation. Identifying the key features of CIBH + may make practical implementation in other settings more feasible to implement and acceptable for patients and care teams to use.