The National Academy for State Health Policy released a report examining the integration of physical and behavioral health services.  The authors suggest that federal community health centers are in a unique position to partner with the community mental health system to integrate care.  The report explores how Tennessee and Missouri have approached integrating care and offers lessons for other states based on their experiences.

From the report: However, the key safety net systems for the delivery of primary care and behavioral health—community health centers and community mental health centers (CMHCs)—have developed largely in isolation from each other, with different mandates and different funding structures. While the two systems may be in the same community serving mostly the same population, the result can be fragmented systems in parallel and nonintegrated settings, creating challenges and barriers to integrated care. This report focuses on how two states have approached integration and provides useful lessons for other states seeking to integrate the two health care delivery systems. Recent work with Tennessee and Missouri—two states that are part of NASHP’s National Cooperative Agreement with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Primary Health Care (HRSA/BPHC)—helped identify efforts that focus on integrating primary care and behavioral health. Site visits to explore integration efforts in Tennessee and Missouri informed this analysis.

Full report:  A Tale of Two Systems: A look at State Efforts to Integrate Primary Care and Behavioral Health in Safety Net Settings (PDF |203.65 KB)

National Academy of State Health Policy.  (2010).  A tale of two systems: a look at state efforts to integrate primary care and behavioral health in safety net settings.  Takach, M., Purington, K. and Osius, E.