Integrated Behavioral Health Home Program May Benefit Patients With Psychotic, Bipolar Disorders

Participation in a behavioral health home (BHH) program by patients with serious mental illness was associated with significant reductions in emergency department (ED) visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, and increased HbA1c monitoring, according to astudy inPsychiatric Services in Advance.“The study extends existing literature by evaluating a clearly defined BHH program that was implemented in a safety-net institution for use by adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorders or bipolar disorder,” wrote lead author Miriam C. Tepper, M.D., a psychiatrist affiliated with Cambridge Hea lth Alliance in Somerville, Mass., and colleagues. Data were collected from electronic health records (EHRs) in an urban academic medical system in Massachusetts that provides a full continuum of care to more than 140,000 patients annually. Records of 424 patients (n=369, psychotic disorder; n=55, bipolar disorder) assigned to BHH were compared with 1,521 individuals with the same diagnoses who were not enrolled in the BHH. The BHH implemented four key general medical and psychiatric service enhancements: 1) On-site medical care, health promotion, support for care coordination and transitions, and peer-to-peer engagement opportunities; 2) Enhanced EHR functionality including provider alerts for patient transitions, a registry for monitoring individuals ’ health status and service delivery, acute care discharge reports to facilitate follow-up, and a performance measurement dashboa...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: behavioral health home bipolar disorder electronic health records emergency department visits HbA1c Miriam Tepper Psychiatric Services in Advance schizophrenia serious mental illness Source Type: research