PWH1 - The Integration of Emerging Best Practice Behavioral Health Initial Screening and Brief Interventions Through Telehealth in a Rural Health Center

Session Description: Through a successfully funded HRSA grant (HRSA-24-010), Georgia Primary Care Association is facilitating the expansion of behavioral health integration via best practice in-clinic and telehealth services in FQHC sites (Georgia Mountains Health Services-GMHS) located in rural, underserved areas of North Georgia. Provision of services include the use of the evidence-based Primary Care Behavioral Health Model and several evidence-based behavioral health practices and tools (SBIRT, PROMIS, PRAPARE, CBT, MI, MAT, etc.).
This program will feature a comparative evaluation of patient clinical outcome measures, cost and cost-effectiveness, quality improvement, and operational programmatic effects of telehealth services versus in-person services. For clinical outcome measure comparison purposes, all new and existing patients will be screened to ensure similarities of identified patients enrolled in the program. The innovative use of Community Health Workers, a Telepsychiatry Champion, and an outside program evaluator will be important components of the program.