Smali Ekaterina, Finnerty Molly T, Pincus Harold A, Talley Rachel, Goldman Matthew L, Woodlock David, Chung Henry
Montefiore Care Management Organization, New York City (Smali, Chung); Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City (Finnerty); Department of Psychiatry and Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York City (Pincus); Behavioral Health Administration, Maryland Department of Health, Baltimore (Talley); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); private practice, New York City (Woodlock); Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City (Chung).
Psychiatr Serv. 2025 Apr 1;76(4):366-372. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.20240019. Epub 2025 Jan 30.
This study assessed the utility and effectiveness of the new general health integration (GHI) framework among community behavioral health organizations designated as certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHCs) or in the process of applying to become a CCBHC.
Nineteen licensed community behavioral health clinics, 18 of which had CCBHC status, participated in a 12-month learning collaborative. They used the GHI framework to assess their integration stage for 15 subdomains within eight domains of evidence-based practice. The clinics worked to improve their GHI practices with the support of monthly learning collaborative webinars, individual consultation calls, and technical assistance sessions. Clinics reported on performance quality metrics aligned with national CCBHC standards. Outcome measures included GHI framework scores at baseline and 1-year follow-up, capacity to report quality metrics at baseline and at the end of the collaborative, and average performance on the quality metrics at baseline versus at the end of the collaborative.
Clinics showed overall improvement in integration stage over the study period. Of note, higher baseline GHI framework scores demonstrated a significant association with greater-quality performance at baseline (r=0.577, p=0.024) and follow-up (r=0.782, p=0.001). Capacity to track and report quality metrics increased significantly during the learning collaborative, as did average performance on quality metrics.
Community behavioral health clinics using the GHI framework were able to advance their GHI practices with a 12-month learning collaborative project. The framework has the potential to serve as a useful tool for clinics aiming to enhance GHI practices.
