School of Medicine Publications
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
3-29-2026
Abstract
To address the growing behavioral health (BH) needs of the population in the US, significant efforts have been made to integrate BH services into primary care. Models of BH integration exist in a continuum and the extent of the collaboration varies. The Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) and the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) are two models of integration that have been researched extensively. This chapter provides an overview of both models and the mechanisms by which they contribute to strengthening integration efforts in primary care. In particular, this chapter will address the role of the Primary Care Provider (PCP) and their role in facilitating integration. In any system, when a new element is introduced, it affords opportunities for existing parts of the system to adapt to integrate the new element. The introduction of an integrated BH effort introduces new people and workflows—both in PCBH and CoCM—to the primary care team. Like many roles in healthcare, these new members of the team and workflows can enhance patient care and team performance in multiple ways. This chapter aims to familiarize the PCP with their role in implementing these models and provide specific guidance on how to optimally collaborate with these new team members to improve primary care. Recognizing that not all primary care clinics may have the means or resources to fully implement these models of care, emphasis is also placed on practical tips for implementation including considerations for small or rural practice settings.
Recommended Citation
Lee, C. L., George, D., & Johnson-Esparza, Y. (2026). Models of behavioral health assessment and treatment in primary care. Models of Behavioral Health Assessment and Treatment in Primary Care. In Essentials for Treating Behavioral Health in Primary Care: A Guide for the Primary Care Provider (pp. 253–274). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-09558-9_12
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
First Page
253
Last Page
274
Publication Title
Essentials for Treating Behavioral Health in Primary Care: A Guide for the Primary Care Provider
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-09558-9_12
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Family Medicine
Comments
This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing,adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made