Caring for the Whole Person: A Patient-Centered Assessment of Integrated Care Models in Vulnerable Populations

Background: This mixed-methods longitudinal study is submitted by the Center for Outcomes Research and Education (CORE). In August 2013 CORE asked its Patient Advisory Panel: How could your experience with the healthcare system be improved? Responses were similar: patients want coordinated, continuous, integrated care. Oregon is embarking on a Medicaid overhaul called the Coordinated Care Model (CCM). One of the most innovative pieces of the CCM is that it fully integrates behavioral healthcare and physical healthcare payments for Medicaid patients statewide. Healthcare systems have been working toward behavioral health integration (BHI) for decades, but Oregon’s CCM means that clinics will be using many new BHI models. The Oregon experiment offers the perfect opportunity to answer our patients’ questions: Is BHI the reform I’ve been looking for? If so, which models might best meet my particular needs?