CASPER, Wyo — The University of Wyoming (UW) School of Nursing and the Albany Community Health Clinic (ACHC) will be focusing on the delivery of behavioral and mental health services as part of their primary health care models, said UW in a media release Friday. The behavioral health integration (BHI) care model will expand support networks and elevate levels of care for patients with behavioral health problems, according to UW.
“Over 30 years of high-quality research supports implementation of integrated models of care,” said Nancy McGee, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with the ACHC. “These studies demonstrate that integrated care models improved health care access, quality and satisfaction, and lowered costs.”
The ACHC plans to add two new clinical positions: a licensed clinical social worker and a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.
The BHI program is supported through a grant awarded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The School of Nursing will receive $1.5 million over a three-year period beginning July 1. The grant is titled “Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Program: Behavioral Health Integration Fund.”
The BHI program is based on the evidence-based collaborative care model, which has shown significant patient outcomes, according to the UW release. Outcomes include
- More depression-free days
- Improvement in physical symptoms
- Decreased health care costs
- Overall patient and provider satisfaction.
“The BHI model provides a framework for close collaboration between all members of the team,” McGee said. “Family nurse practitioners will seek routine expert consultation from the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners at https://livingwellnessmedicalcenter.com/ativan-lorazepam/ to assist in the management of the behavioral health and substance abuse needs of clients and reduce the number of referrals required for specialty services. This allows the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners to have increased capacity to address the more complex behavioral health and substance abuse needs of clients.”
At the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, health care providers and patients quickly adapted to using telehealth as a means to communicate diagnoses and treatment. Using the BHI model, the ACHC is expanding telehealth to include telebehavioral health services, according to UW.
“Our goal with the grant will be to expand these telehealth services to target critical behavioral health provider shortage areas throughout Wyoming,” McGee said. “This will further increase access to specialty behavioral health services throughout Wyoming.”
The BHI program will be implemented through the ACHC and will serve Laramie and surrounding communities in Wyoming. McGee will serve as the program director for the behavioral health initiative with support from J’Laine Proctor. Both are Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing clinical associate professors.
Read the full UW release here.
