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Procedures

In this area, we have summarized some generally accepted procedural protocols. The goal of the integrated program should be the optimal treatment of clients’ mental and physical health through staff collaboration. Policies and procedures should flow from that principle. Adherence to a particular model or procedure should be strengthened, modified or abandoned depending on how well that goal is being achieved.

As an example of integrated behavioral procedures, passages from the “Primary Care Behavioral Health Care Services Practice Manual 2.0” developed by the U.S. Air Force Medical Operations Agency, 2002, are presented in modified form throughout this area, along with other material developed by IBHP and others.

An operational manual developed and generously furnished by Elizabeth Morrison, LCSW (formerly of Golden Valley Health Centers, an IBHP grant recipient) is provided for informational purposes only. Clinic personnel who have seen it describe it as “solid gold”. To access it, click Golden Valley Health Center’s Integrated Care Manual for Behavioral Health Services, 2008.

In 2011, the Center for Integrated Healthcare published Primary Care – Mental Health Integration Co-Located, Collaborative Care: An Operations Manual.  Chapters focus on staff roles and recruitment, program implementation and monitoring, logistics and administrative procedures.  Sample forms are included in the appendices.

It’s important to note that IBHP is not endorsing any particular model nor method of integrated behavioral care.