“I Need a Psychiatrist but Can’t Find One”: An Introduction to the Integrated Care Elective to Increase Access to Care-View Recording

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Video Summary

The presentation addressed the challenge of accessing psychiatric care, particularly in underserved communities, and proposed integrated care systems as a solution. The integrated care model aims to incorporate behavioral health into primary care clinics, which could alleviate the burden on psychiatric facilities by enabling primary care physicians (PCPs) to handle common mental health conditions. The core components include co-located care, collaborative care models, ambulatory ICUs, PCP coaching, and a psychiatry elective for primary care residents. Presenters Dr. Shalini Dutta, Dr. Suparno Mitra, and Dr. Gunturu Sashi discussed the significance of training gaps in psychiatry for medical and family medicine residents, noting that many don't feel equipped to prescribe psychiatric medications. The integration model introduced in various primary care settings has shown to improve patient care through approaches like collaborative care where a psychiatrist indirectly provides input via a behavioral health case manager. This model is cost-effective and enhances patient and physician satisfaction. The rotation offers exposure to managing common behavioral health disorders, aiming to increase comfort with psychiatric interventions for primary care trainees. Presenters encouraged further advocacy for incorporating psychiatry as a core rotation in residency programs, highlighting successes in other countries and underlining potential strategies like leveraging organizational budgets to push for integrated care and making the psychiatric curriculum mandatory.

Keywords

psychiatric care

underserved communities

integrated care systems

behavioral health

primary care clinics

collaborative care models

training gaps

psychiatric medications

cost-effective

patient satisfaction

residency programs

psychiatric curriculum