Behavioral Health Homes
What is a Behavioral Health Home?
A Behavioral Health Home is a health care provider office or clinic. This is where you can get behavioral health care services. They provide or coordinate your behavioral and physical health services as well as any services and supports you may need. They also work with primary care providers for both children and adults.
You may sometimes see these providers called Integrated Behavioral Health Homes. This just means they provide physical health services as well as behavioral health services. They treat mental health and substance use conditions, as well as others. There are three types of Integrated Behavioral Health Homes:
- Integrated Behavioral Health Homes -- Building primary care capacity in-house; sharing EHRs (Electronic Health Records) and a common work culture
- Co-located Behavioral Health Homes -- Physical and behavioral providers located in same building, or within the same complex
- Virtual Behavioral Health Homes -- Working with primary care providers
An Integrated Behavioral Health Home allows a member to get all of their healthcare needs met in one place by the same care team. This includes physical health and mental health services. Sometimes, other services are included, such as dental, vision, and in house pharmacy. There are many advantages to getting all of your healthcare needs met by one treatment team, including:
- Convenience
- One treatment plan
- Better coordination of care
- Shared medical records among treating providers
In a Co-located Behavioral Health Home, a member can get both their physical health and behavioral health services in the same building but by different providers. Our members can get all of the above listed benefits of an Integrated Behavioral Health Home, except there will be two treatment plans instead of one. This allows physical health and behavioral health doctors to work together. Virtual Health Homes do not offer the benefits of co-located health care professionals, but they do share information and work as a care team to improve coordination of care.
Benefits of Integrated Healthcare
- Close collaboration between physical health and behavioral health providers
- Two-way communication about the member’s whole health
- All needed consents and information sharing are in place
- Ideal for helping members with complex behavioral health needs
Admission, Continued Stay, and Discharge Criteria