Healthcare Providers Policy Planning:The Four Quadrant Model
consumers currently can be found.
QUADRANT III
Low BH-high physical health complexity/risk, served in the primary care/medical specialty system with BH staff on site in primary or medical specialty care, coordinating with all medical care providers including disease managers.
The PCP provides primary care services, works with medical specialty providers and disease managers (e.g. diabetes, asthma) to manage the physical health issues of the individual and uses standard BH screening tools and practice guidelines to serve most individuals in the primary care practice.
Use of standardized BH tools by the PCP and a tracking/registry system focuses referrals of a subset of the population to the BH clinician. The role of the primary care or medical specialty based BH clinician is to provide BH triage and assessment, consultation to the PCP or treatment services to the patient, referral to community and educational resources, and health risk education.
BH clinical and support services may include individual or group services, use of cognitive behavioral therapy, psycho-education, brief SA intervention, and limited case management. The BH clinician must be competent in both MH and SA assessment and service planning. The PCP prescribes psychotropic medications using treatment algorithms and has access to psychiatric consultation regarding medication management.
Depending on the setting, the BH clinician may also serve as a health educator regarding lifestyle and chronic health conditions found in the general public (diabetes, asthma) or conditions found in at-risk populations (Hepatitis C, HIV). T
These population-based services, as articulated by Bob Dyer, would include: patient education, activity planning; prompting; skill assessment; skill building; and, mutual support.iii In addition to these disease management services, the BH clinician might serve as a physician extender, supporting efficient use of physician time by problem solving with acute or chronic patients, as well as working with patients on medication compliance issues.
Specialty healthcare and disease management programs could also integrate depression screening into a wide array of self management and rehabilitation programs, building on current research findings regarding the frequency and impact of depression in cardiovascular or diabetes populations.
QUADRANT IV
High BH-high physical health complexity/risk, served in both the specialty BH and primary care/medical specialty systems; in addition to the BH case manager, there may be a disease manager, in which case the two managers work at a high level of coordination with one another and other members of the team.
The PCP works with medical specialty providers and disease managers (e.g. diabetes, asthma) to manage the physical health issues of the individual, while collaborating with the BH system in the planning and delivery of BH clinical and support services, which include those listed in Quadrant II.
Psychiatric consultation is a key element in these most complex situations. The role of the specialty BH clinician is to provide BH assessment, arrange for or deliver specialty BH services, assure case management related to housing and other community supports, and collaborate at a high level with the healthcare system team. The BH clinician must be competent in both MH and SA assessment and service planning.
In some settings, BH services may be integrated with specialty provider teams (for example, Kaiser has BH clinicians in OB/GYN working with substance abusing pregnant women). With the extension of disease management programs into Medicaid health plans, there is the likelihood of coordinating with disease managers in addition to healthcare providers.
The BH clinician and disease manager should assure they are not duplicating tasks, but working together to support the needs of the consumer. A specific standard of practice should be adopted that defines the methods and frequency of communication.
The author is the Director of Marketing and Communications at The National Council. The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) association. For more information, visit http://www.thenationalcouncil.org.