Sessions and Materials: Integrating Behavioral Health with Primary Care

The following sessions are part of the Integrating Behavioral Health with Primary Care SWEEP.

Overview of Continuum-Based Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care Framework

01/21/2021
Learn about the framework for integrating behavioral health into primary care.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Henry Chung, MD
Senior Medical Director, Behavioral Health Integration Strategy, Montefiore Health System
Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

About Henry Chung, MD

Dr. Chung has spent his career leading and participating in quality initiatives to integrate behavioral health into primary care practices. He has a wealth of experience in quality improvement, research and academic expertise implementing and improving the integration of behavioral health access and treatment in primary care, particularly for racial and ethnic minority patients. Dr. Chung was one of the first to demonstrate that the PHQ9 (a depression screening and monitoring patient self-report scale) was valid and reliable for use among African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans and then subsequently demonstrate that both psychiatrists and primary care clinicians can successfully use the PHQ9 to monitor and improve care for patients with depression. In addition, he has worked to integrate additional behavioral conditions including anxiety, PTSD and harmful drinking to the collaborative care model.

Most recently with the support of the United Hospital Fund in New York City, he developed a new guide and framework for behavioral integration in primary care to support New York State Medicaid reform. This guide has received significant uptake in utilization to assess baseline practice readiness for integration as well as to document advancement in behavioral health integration. Currently, he leads a regional learning collaborative for 30 community based primary care and behavioral health providers among the Montefiore Hudson Valley Performing Provider Systems for the quality improvement of behavioral health integration. This initiative has resulted in dramatic improvements in depression and anxiety screening rates from less to than 40% at inception to greater than 80%, as well as improved performance on HEDIS and New York State QARR measures such as 30-day follow-up after mental health hospitalization, antidepressant adherence, and ADHD medication follow-up.

Sustainability: Coding & Telehealth

02/03/2021
Discover the billing codes used for depression and anxiety screening and follow up to enhance revenue to support the work.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Reid Plimpton, MPH
Project Manager, Northeast Telehealth Resource Center

About Reid Plimpton, MPH

Reid Plimpton is a member of the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers. While assisting organizations in developing, implementing, and expanding telehealth programs, he researches and tracks telehealth reimbursement policies, legal and regulatory issues, model programs, telehealth technology, and other topics. Mr. Plimpton recently completed his Master of Public Health with Honors from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in June of 2019.

Screening & Referral to
Behavioral Care

02/17/2021
Learn the screening process for depression and anxiety and referral to behavioral health services.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Henry Chung, MD
Senior Medical Director, Behavioral Health Integration Strategy, Montefiore Health System
Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

About Henry Chung, MD

Collaborative Contracting

03/03/2021
Learn how to make an agreement with a psychiatrist, a BH practice, or a community-based organization.

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Marisa Scala-Foley
Director, Aging and Disability Business Institute

About Marisa Scala-Foley

Marisa Scala-Foley is the Director of the Aging and Disability Business Institute at the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a), which provides community-based organizations (CBOs) with the tools and resources to successfully adapt to a changing health care environment, enhance their organizational capacity and capitalize on emerging opportunities to diversify funding.

Before coming to n4a, she served as Director of the Office of Integrated Care Innovations in the Center for Integrated Programs at the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), where she managed the agency’s efforts to build the capacity of state and community-based organizations for delivery system reform. Prior to that she helped found and lead the Center for Benefits Access at the National Council on Aging.

Marisa has worked her entire career in the field of aging on issues related to health-care and long-term services and supports. She holds a Masters in Gerontological Studies from Miami University (Ohio), and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology/Gerontology from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

Henry Chung, MD
Senior Medical Director, Behavioral Health Integration Strategy, Montefiore Health System
Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

About Henry Chung, MD

Ongoing Care Management Process (Information & Data Sharing)

03/17/2021
Describe ongoing management of care processes, information, and data tracking.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Concert Health

About Virna Little, PsyD, LCSW

Dr. Virna Little is a nationally and internationally-known speaker around integrating primary care and behavioral health services, collaborative care and the development of viable behavioral health services in community health settings. Dr. Little is an advocate for integrated delivery systems and behavioral health workforce and development.

Dr. Little is currently the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Concert Health, a national organization providing behavioral health services to primary care providers, the Director of the Center for Innovation in Mental Health at the CUNY School of Public Health in New York and the co-founder of Zero Overdose, a not for profit addressing the national crisis of unintentional overdoses.

Prior Dr. Little worked for 22 years as a Senior Vice President for a large FQHC network in New York overseeing over 300 behavioral health and community staff and worked for New York City Health and Hospitals as a citywide family violence coordinator.

She has a Doctoral degree in Psychology, a Masters in Social Work, a Master’s in Business Administration and Healthcare, is a Certified Care Manager (CCM) and a recognized Substance Abuse Professional (SAP).

Evidence-Based Care &
Self-Management

03/31/2021
Talk about stigma at the practice level, psychopharmacology, access to behavioral health services, adherence, and social determinants of health.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Henry Chung, MD
Senior Medical Director, Behavioral Health Integration Strategy, Montefiore Health System
Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

About Henry Chung, MD

Community & Social Services Linkages

04/14/2021
Connect the patient to community resources for social determinants of health.

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Laura Benzel, Qlarant

Therese Wetterman
Director Program Services Team, Health Leads

About Therese Wetterman

As a Director on the Program Services team, Therese oversees the development and delivery of the Health Leads Network – a public facing shared-learning platform with over 500 action-oriented practitioners and caregivers who are working to advance the integration of essential needs into community-led health initiatives.

Therese plays a leadership role on our national collaboratives including the Collaborative to Advance Social Health Integration and the Equity Oriented Primary Care Innovation Collaborative, launching in 2021. Notably, a content focus of hers includes how to build the business case for addressing essential needs in the health care setting.

Prior to Health Leads, Therese was a Senior Program Manager at the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) where she worked directly with safety-net primary care practices participating in value-based payment arrangements to employ data-driven, outcome-oriented projects to strengthen the delivery of team-based care and population management. While at PCDC, Therese co-led the development of a national program to provide technical assistance and training on care management and coordination strategies to healthcare and community-based organizations. Therese started her career at the Greater New York Hospital Association, where she provided guidance to member hospitals on health care policy developments that promoted community health initiatives.

Therese has a BA from Tufts University in Political Science and Community Health and an MPH in Health Policy and Management from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Therese brings her experience in health policy, primary care operations, quality improvement and innovation to accelerate systems change among our partners. Her commitment to health equity work stems from her experience seeing our current systems not work for many – particularly resilient communities of color. She believes that we must center on racial equity in our efforts to redesign and improve these systems, so that we can achieve health equity.

Kevin Fiori, MD
Medical Director of Montefiore’s Office of Population and Community Health

About Kevin Fiori, MD

Kevin Fiori MD, MPH, MSc is the Medical Director for Montefiore Health System’s Office of Population and Community Health and Assistant Professor in both Pediatrics and Family and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

His research aims to address health disparities in communities both in the Bronx and abroad and is primary investigator on multiple ongoing implementation research studies in Togo, West Africa and the Bronx. His domestic research focuses on integrating social needs screening and community health workers outreach in Bronx primary care centers.

Sustainability: Coding for Behavioral Health Services

04/28/2021
How to get paid for added BH screenings and follow-up for primary care patients.

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Earl Berman, MD, FACP, MALPS-L
Chief Medical Officer
CMD J-15 Part B
CGS Administrators, LLC

About Earl Berman, MD, FACP, MALPS-L

Dr. Earl Berman, a native of Savannah, GA, attended Benedictine Military School, University of GA, and Medical College of GA. He has been in the practice of general internal medicine for over 20 years in diverse practice environments including large multi-specialty groups/clinics, urban and rural private practice, as well as hospice, nursing homes, and assisted living.

His administrative experience includes being a managing partner in an internal medicine group, managing a five county sports medicine practice, and a hospice medical director. Dr. Berman also has worked as a Medicare medical director contractor, providing auditing for 14 states. Currently, Dr. Berman is the Chief Medical Officer for CGS that operates as a Part A, Part B, Home Health & Hospice (HH&H), and Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Medicare Administrative Contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Dr. Berman prides himself in being available to discuss issues promptly and professionally. He also promotes the four cornerstones of communication: clear, concise, correct and considerate.

Where to Go From Here

05/26/2021
SWEEP Wrap-up: Our team will present readiness assessment results.

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

SWEEP Team

Bonnie Horvath, Qlarant
Laura Benzel, Qlarant
Lynn Wilson, IPRO
Gail Gresko, IPRO

Sessions and Materials: Integrating Behavioral Health with Primary Care

Overview of Continuum-Based Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care Framework

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Sustainability: Coding & Telehealth

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Screening & Referral to
Behavioral Care

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Collaborative Contracting

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Ongoing Care Management Process (Information & Data Sharing)

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Evidence-Based Care &
Self-Management

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Community & Social Services Linkages

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Sustainability: Coding for Behavioral Health Services

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Where to Go From Here

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Quick Links

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Accessibility & Nondiscrimination

Overview of Continuum-Based Behavioral Health Integration in Primary Care Framework

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Sustainability: Coding & Telehealth

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Screening & Referral to Behavioral Care

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Collaborative Contracting

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Ongoing Care Management Process (Information & Data Sharing)

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Evidence-Based Care & Self-Management

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Community & Social Services Linkages

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Sustainability: Coding for Behavioral Health Services

Session Materials:

Our Speaker

Where to Go From Here

Session Materials:

Our Speakers

Screening & Referral to
Behavioral Care

Evidence-Based Care &
Self-Management