Primary care providers in La Plata County have begun work as part of a governor’s office initiative called the State Innovation Model.
Colorado received a $65 million award from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to better integrate physical and behavioral health care, as well as experiment with new health-care payment systems.
The goal of the program is to create a way to care for physical, behavioral and mental health all in one, unfragmented package.
Pediatric Associates of Durango is one of four practices in La Plata County accepted into the program, which provides funding, advisers and networking with other groups and practices throughout the state.
Axis Health System, Mercy Family Medicine and Pediatric Partners of the Southwest are also taking part.
The program has allowed Pediatric Associates to hire a behavioral health provider. The goal is to make integrated care a permanent fixture at the practice, said owner Pakhi Chaudhuri.
Integrated care means when a patient comes in for an annual checkup at Pediatric Associates, he or she can be treated for mental health as well as the traditional physical health ailments that doctors’ offices address.
For example, a patient may be screened for depression, or parents can discuss their child’s problems at school, while receiving a checkup for cold symptoms, said behavioral health provider Ruth Watkins with Pediatric Associates.
With integrated care, the patient does not have to go searching for a mental health provider because the mental health care is in-house at Pediatric Associates, Chaudhuri said.
“They’re getting full, wrap-around sort of care,” she said.
Watkins said parents have reacted positively to being able to receive behavioral health care at the pediatrics office.
The practice also has access to software and networking opportunities.
Pediatric Associates can access medical records-keeping software that can track patient history. So, if a patient once went to the emergency room for a crisis situation, Pediatric Associates can see that and be clued in to the patient’s history, Chaudhuri said.
Watkins has also created a behavioral health “how-to” handbook that the practice has been able to share with other practices throughout the state that are in the program.
Another component of the program is alternative payment methods.
Patients and insurance companies are billed for one integrated service, rather than individual pieces, which should keep costs down, Chaudhuri said. Because this saves the insurance companies money, practices may be reimbursed a sum of money in the future, she said.
Integrated care can improve the services medical practices are able to offer their patients, can make seeking care easier for patients and, overall, can improve the health of patients.
“I don’t know how I practiced medicine without a behavioral health person,” Chaudhuri said.
rsimonovich@durangoherald.com
