APA Receives Federal Grant to Train Psychiatrists in Integrated Care

APA is one of just 39 health care organizations selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative, a grant program in which APA will receive $2.9 million over four years to train 3,500 psychiatrists in the clinical and leadership skills needed to support primary care practices that are implementing integrated behavioral health programs.

APA will train psychiatrists in collaboration with the AIMS (Advancing Innovative Mental Health Solutions) Center at the University of Washington and will offer both online learning modules and in-person training at APA meetings. Ultimately, it is expected that psychiatrists will be able to join ongoing learning communities designed to continuously share information and advice about how to implement the skills of integrated care into their practices and to transform clinical practice.

“We hope to leverage APA’s district branches to create local learning communities dedicated to changing clinical practice,” said Anna Ratzliff, M.D., Ph.D., associate director for education at the AIMS Center and director of the University of Washington Integrated Care Training Program.

The award is a milestone for APA, a high-profile recognition of APA’s commitment to integrated care and to the goals of its so-called “Triple Aim”: improving the individual experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita costs of care for populations. Of the 39 health care organizations, there are 29 health care networks, and just 10 “Support and Alignment Networks” (SAN), of which APA is one.

According to the CMS website for the initiative, the SANs will provide a system for workforce development utilizing national and regional professional associations and public-private partnerships that are currently working in practice transformation.

“Research shows that integrating behavioral health care into primary care settings improves patient outcomes and reduces health care spending,” said APA President Renée Binder, M.D. “This grant will allow APA to expand the number of psychiatrists who are trained to provide evidence-based integrated mental health care to people throughout the United States.”

APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., said APA members who participate in the training will be part of the transformation of American health care. “This award is an important recognition of the vital role of psychiatry in integrated care that treats mind, brain, and body,” Levin said. “APA members who avail themselves of training with our colleagues at the AIMS Center will develop skills allowing them to extend their psychiatric expertise to larger populations of primary care patients.”

In the grant proposal to CMS, APA stated the following: “We propose to train 3,500 psychiatrists during the four years of the program. Psychiatrists trained in the earlier years will participate in a learning network and serve as trainers for later cohorts. We assume that trained psychiatrists will spend at least 20 percent of their practice time providing evidence-based integrated care consultation. During this time, each of the consulting psychiatrists will support as many as 50 primary care providers and consult on the care of about 400 patients a year.

“When fully implemented, psychiatrists will be able to support approximately 150,000 primary care providers and consult on the care of well over 1 million patients each year. Research shows that as much as $1,000 per patient in health care costs can be avoided each year when primary care patients receive well-implemented, evidence-based integrated mental health care, resulting in potential health care savings in excess of $1 billion.”

Ratzliff told Psychiatric News that training, which is free, will be accessed through two main avenues: seven online training modules available through APA and in-person training at APA annual meetings and district branch meetings.

The grant period is four years. Ratzliff said psychiatrists who complete the training program will be recognized by APA for their commitment to learning and implementing the skills of integrated care.

Levin said APA is committed to educating members about new modalities for delivering care, as well as supporting them in their current practices. “Receiving this grant compliments the other policy objectives APA is looking to achieve such as payment for these new deliveries, increased quality measures for reimbursement, and ensuring mental health parity for patients,” he said.

APA members interested in receiving training in the collaborative care model should email [email protected]. ■