The American Medical Association (AMA), in collaboration with seven physician organizations, launched the Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) Collaborative. The goal is to promote the integration of behavioral and mental health care into overall health care, without a major overhaul of current workflow or significant financial outlays.

In addition to the AMA, the BHI Collaborative includes the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American Osteopathic Association, and American Psychiatric Association. The YeaBHI Collaborative seeks to provide professionally satisfying, sustainable physician practice experience, and to act as a partner to help physicians overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of meeting their consumers’ mental and behavioral health needs.

To help physicians integrate behavioral health, the BHI Collaborative is building an online compendium of physician-tested resources that provide a proven pathway for delivering behavioral and mental health care in a primary care setting. The resources in the compendium will include free access to online webinar programming, remote learning opportunities and other resources with key steps, best practices, and tools to accelerate behavioral health integration. Topics will address: fostering collaborative cultures and strong consumer engagement, supporting accurate billing and coding, and integrating telehealth into practice.

This was reported by American Medical Association on October 13, 2020.

Contact information: American Medical Association, AMA Plaza, 330 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 39300, Chicago, IL 60611-5885; Website: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/behavioral-health-integration-physician-practices