{"id":1951,"date":"2020-01-21T09:17:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T17:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ascentblog.org\/?p=1951"},"modified":"2020-01-06T16:25:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-07T00:25:45","slug":"should-mental-health-care-be-integrated-with-primary-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ascentblog.org\/should-mental-health-care-be-integrated-with-primary-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Mental Health Care be Integrated with Primary Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once upon a time, mental health issues were rarely discussed, but in light of many high-profile criminal acts, those discussions are gaining acceptance. Mental health is considered an entirely different entity than physical health, but research increasingly shows that integrating the two could result in some fairly substantial benefits.<\/p>\n

How Would Your PCP Treat Mental Health?<\/h2>\n

\"Stethoscope<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re all used to our doctor taking our weight, measuring our blood pressure, and asking us to open up and say \u201cahh.\u201d Mental health is rarely addressed, but if it were, you\u2019d be asked questions pertaining not only to diet, exercise and lifestyle choices, but also regarding your mental state. Behavioral health counseling would become a routine component of your physical health care and would allow you to manage your own medication use, nutrition and exercise. As great as this sounds, there would be many obstacles to overcome before your primary care physician could reasonably be expected to address your mental well-being.<\/p>\n

Simply expecting your doctor to rattle off a series of questions fails to take into account all that is required behind the scenes, everything from billing and coding to electronic medical records systems and care management platforms…not to mention the fact that your PCP would need to have a thorough understanding of behavioral health clinic guidelines and standards of care, and in-depth knowledge of the various social support services available to patients within the community. Not all doctors are comfortable with the idea of integrating mental health care into their practices; doing so would require a steep learning curve for everything from assessments and diagnoses to medications and treatments, and the cost wouldn\u2019t be cheap.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean integration is impossible or shouldn\u2019t be attempted; it\u2019s an important and admirable goal with many potential long-term benefits. We would have to focus on overcoming roadblocks that include:<\/p>\n