The impact of behavioral health counseling during primary care visits on patient flow and access at an integrated health clinic

Thursday, June 22, 2017: 7:00 AM
Nancy Elder, MD, MSPH (Medical Director / Professor of Family Medicine, Cincinnati Health Network / University of Cincinnati)
Max Schwarzer (student, Lewis and Clark College)
Brian VanderHorst (Chief Operating Officer, Cincinnati Health Network)
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.