How Might Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Benefit Your Clients?
As a behavioral health professional, you understand that a client’s behavioral health conditions can affect their medical illnesses. As a result, integrated behavioral healthcare might benefit your clients.
Integrated behavioral healthcare involves providing care for behavioral health factors and related medical conditions in one setting. This type of care focuses on the whole person rather than separate issues at separate times. The goal is to improve the quality of care and the client’s health.
You can work with medical professionals to address each of your client’s concerns. The care can be delivered in the client’s primary care setting, their preferred setting, or a setting that accommodates specialty services. Providing care in one setting improves coordination and communication as you and medical professionals work toward one set of health goals.
Integrated behavioral health involves working with each client, their family members, and their medical providers to develop a care plan. The care plan includes the behavioral health and medical professionals providing treatment. The plan is shared with the team so they can follow up with the patient and track their progress.
Discover how integrated behavioral healthcare might benefit your clients.
Stronger Patient Relationships
Patient relationships become stronger through integrated behavioral healthcare. Behavioral health professionals and medical professionals are better able to meet patients where they are and deliver a holistic model of care.
Providing a patient-centered care plan puts the individual’s health needs and desired outcomes at the center of all healthcare decisions. The care team develops a customized, comprehensive care plan involving the patient’s mental and physical health and social needs for optimum success.
Improved Health Outcomes
Chronic conditions often are caused by lifestyle factors. These conditions can be worsened by behavioral health concerns. As a result, delivering integrated behavioral healthcare helps alleviate behavioral health concerns to more easily manage, improve, and treat chronic conditions.
Patients appreciate the convenience of having their health conditions and behavioral health concerns treated at one time in one location. Most feel it is easier and more comfortable accessing behavioral healthcare treatment in a familiar setting than in a behavioral health setting.
Reduced Healthcare Costs
Integrated behavioral healthcare improves both health and the patient experience. These benefits include fewer unnecessary delays in patient care, less need for hospitalizations, and lower costs related to patient care.
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