Enhanced Integration of Behavioral/Mental Health Care at a Nurse-Managed Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southern Appalachia

Author Names and Emails

Carmen JonesFollow

Authors' Affiliations

Carmen Jones, College of Nursing, East Tennessee State University

Location

Culp Ballroom

Start Date

4-7-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

4-7-2022 12:00 PM

Poster Number

62

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Nursing

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Judith Rice

Classification of First Author

Graduate Student-Doctoral

Competition Type

Non-Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Healthcare and Medicine

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Enhanced Integration of Behavioral/Mental Health Care at a Nurse-Managed Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southern Appalachia is a quality improvement project to be completed at a university-affiliated FQHC that offers a variety of primary care and co-located ancillary and specialty services with income-based payment guidelines. The purpose of the project is to identify perceived barriers to internal BMH referrals and evaluate team members’ opinions of the acceptability, adoptability, and applicability of the integrated processes at the clinic site. Whereas positive patient outcomes related to BMH care integration are well-established, activities of this project are focused on measuring these process-based outcomes that are valuable for making successful changes in standard practices. Using a customized Likert-scale questionnaire, team-members will be invited to participate by providing responses before and after seeing a project overview presentation and engaging in practice changes orchestrated by BMH clinicians. Improvements in interpersonal communication methods and demonstration of workflow pathways that deviate from the established practices aim to introduce and prepare the care team for a cultural shift to fully integrated services that focus on whole-person health. Anticipated findings following implementation include a modest increase in the perceived acceptability, adoptability, and applicability of the integrated care model. Primary limitations of this quality improvement project include inadequate human resources due to delays in the hiring process for behavioral/mental health clinicians. Additionally, logistic considerations for maintaining BMH clinician ability to provide care for established patients while being available for integrated care consultations were under-estimated.

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Apr 7th, 9:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 PM

Enhanced Integration of Behavioral/Mental Health Care at a Nurse-Managed Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southern Appalachia

Culp Ballroom

Enhanced Integration of Behavioral/Mental Health Care at a Nurse-Managed Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Southern Appalachia is a quality improvement project to be completed at a university-affiliated FQHC that offers a variety of primary care and co-located ancillary and specialty services with income-based payment guidelines. The purpose of the project is to identify perceived barriers to internal BMH referrals and evaluate team members’ opinions of the acceptability, adoptability, and applicability of the integrated processes at the clinic site. Whereas positive patient outcomes related to BMH care integration are well-established, activities of this project are focused on measuring these process-based outcomes that are valuable for making successful changes in standard practices. Using a customized Likert-scale questionnaire, team-members will be invited to participate by providing responses before and after seeing a project overview presentation and engaging in practice changes orchestrated by BMH clinicians. Improvements in interpersonal communication methods and demonstration of workflow pathways that deviate from the established practices aim to introduce and prepare the care team for a cultural shift to fully integrated services that focus on whole-person health. Anticipated findings following implementation include a modest increase in the perceived acceptability, adoptability, and applicability of the integrated care model. Primary limitations of this quality improvement project include inadequate human resources due to delays in the hiring process for behavioral/mental health clinicians. Additionally, logistic considerations for maintaining BMH clinician ability to provide care for established patients while being available for integrated care consultations were under-estimated.