Cultivating Collaboration: Enhancing Efficiencies and Effectiveness through Team Training in IBH - May 11

Dr. Lisa Ramirez, PhD ABPP, a child psychologist at the MetroHealth System in Cleveland, OH, has witnessed firsthand the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people.

As a faculty member in MetroHealth’s integrated primary care program in pediatrics, Dr. Ramirez understands the potential of integrated behavioral health (IBH) models to expand access to mental health care among the pediatric population. At MetroHealth, a multi-disciplinary care team comprised of experts and learners in primary care, psychology, psychiatry and social work practice side by side in caring for the physical and behavioral health needs of the system’s youngest and most vulnerable patients. Their model has produced real results: through a combination of creating training pipelines, warm handoffs, same-day consults, and suicide interventions, the MetroHealth team has eliminated the wait to see a behavioral health provider in their pediatric clinics.

Dr. Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Sciences at the University of Washington Medical Center, understands the importance of implementing a population-based approach to mental health care. Dr. Ratzliff is a nationally recognized expert on the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), an integrated behavioral health model first developed at the University of Washington that has been proven to be effective at managing behavioral health conditions, such as depression, in primary care settings. The CoCM leverages a team-based approach and measurement-based care to improve the efficiency of the behavioral health workforce. Under this model, a psychiatric consultant provides treatment recommendations to a primary care provider on a large panel of patients, thereby allowing them to leverage their expertise over a broader population. In addition, these indirect consultations can be provided virtually, which expands access to care for individuals living in rural communities.

In addition, Dr. Ratzliff has combined her dual role as the UW Psychiatry Residency Program Director and Co-Director of AIMS Center (a national CoCM implementation center) to training the next generation of behavioral health providers to provide integrated care. In the Psychiatry Resident Training in Collaborative Care Program, psychiatry residents develop the skills necessary to assume the role of a Psychiatric Consultant within the CoCM model. During this clinical rotation in University of Washington Medical Center clinics, residents learn the roles and responsibilities of each member of the CoCM care team, as well as how deliver effective consultation and treatment recommendations.

Dr. Amit Shahane, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System in Charlottesville, VA strives to build integrated behavioral health (IBH) programs within a variety of UVA Health’s primary care and specialty care clinics. As a faculty member in the Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences department, he serves as the Director of the UVA Behavioral Medicine Center and Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship program. Dr. Shahane has worked in specialty and primary care IBH clinics to improve access for patients from marginalized and under-resourced communities. At UVA, Dr. Shahane works alongside physicians, nurses, and social workers to provide patients with psychological assessments and brief/long-term interventions, thereby reducing the burden on specialty mental health providers and decreasing wait times for patients. He often sees patients with a variety of concerns such as depression or anxiety disorders that impact medical conditions. UVA’s Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences department is also involved in consults and econsults with UVA’s primary care providers for patients with behavioral health needs.