Every American deserves access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment as an important part of their overall health and well-being. Access to behavioral health care can help people manage and cope with mental health concerns, reducing the impact of these conditions on their daily lives. This can improve their ability to function in their work, relationships, and community, leading to a better quality of life.
Integrating behavioral health into other care settings is an important way to increase access for patients. The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) is one best-practice, team-based approach to integrating care for whole-person health. This evidence-based model of integrated behavioral health care enhances primary care by adding two key components – care management and psychiatric consultation.