Thursday, June 22, 2017: 7:00 AM
The integration of behavioral health into primary care has been increasing. We compared patient flow and patterns between patients seen by a behavioral health counselor (BHC) to those not seen during a primary care visit at our integrated clinic. Almost 40% of primary care visits included a visit with a BHC. While patients spend almost an hour waiting between check-in and check-out, adding a BHC lengthened wait time by 4 minutes and is unlikely to be a barrier. Flexibility between PCP and BHC in when they see patients during the visit enhances patient access to BHC during primary care visits.