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Now is a great time to integrate
primary care and behavioral health

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not just in terms of policy but
probably more importantly in terms

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of the impact policy has on the
actual care that patients receive.

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We're seeing collaborative care
unfold at a unprecedented pace all

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across the country, every geographic
region that you can think of is

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doing something to integrate
primary care and behavioral health.

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From the Northwest region all the
way to the other side of the country

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in Florida, I've been amazed at the
progress in just such a short amount

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of time and this is a direct result
of both policies as well as personal

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feet on the ground incentives to
do the right thing for patients.

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And I think what's very exciting is
the work around acknowledging how

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much mental health is essential in primary care and
how much primary care is essential in mental health.

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There are some very important
opportunities to integrate primary

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care and behavioral health right
now especially with the acceleration

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across the country of the
patient centered medical home,

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the accountable care organization,
and then some of the really

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important statewide comprehensive primary
care initiatives that are taking place

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in a number of states with the intentions
of expanding across the country.

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So when I think of primary
care and when I think of the word

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comprehensive I really think behavioral health, mental health,

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and especially a more comprehensive view of the
patient is what these policies are trying to aim for.

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	So a great example of a current policy
in place right now is this movement

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towards understanding how we can better treat
what we call episodes of care or bundled care.

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And all that really means is that
instead of saying well this patient

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has heart disease and so let's focus
intensively on this hospitalization

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around heart disease we actually are
creating both financial incentives,

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as well as quality measures
that look at you know what,

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we know that a good number of
patients with heart disease also

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have potentially depression or
other behavioral health issues,

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how do we bring the right group of providers
to come together to deal with this?

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That's true collaborative care.

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A lot of people wonder why
healthcare policy matters and I like

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to explain it this way, healthcare policy
is really our basic infrastructure.

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It's our highway for how we think
about the healthcare system and it's

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the backbone upon which we can build and
do what I think people like myself,

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who practice in a primary care setting,
actually want to concentrate on.

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And that's delivering care.

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I would say to you that a lot of
what we're seeing in developments in

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collaborative care come from
people like the folks that I've been

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privileged to work around who really
get it and understand it and are

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just so thankful that now we have policies
in place to promote this kind of care.

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We still have a lot of people in
our country and that includes many

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providers who just don't
understand what their role is.

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And so some of the research
that's going on right now with the,

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with the assistance and support of
agencies like AHRQ are critical to

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helping us show some of these
providers who just don't see a path

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forward that they too can practice
collaborative care and that they can

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still retain some of
their individual autonomy,

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and some of their cognitive
ability in their specialties.

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We need to show that
more than ever now.