Implementation of collaborative psychiatric care in a family medicine clinic: A quality assurance study

Abstract

In recent decades, numerous primary care clinics throughout the United States have implemented a collaborative care model of psychiatry in their practice. In this care model, patients with a psychiatric diagnosis meet with a team commonly composed of a primary care provider, behavioral health provider, and psychiatric consultants to develop a well-informed treatment plan. The St. Mary’s Family Medicine Center in Grand Junction, Colorado implemented this care model in March 2020. Here, we evaluated its implementation and assessed its efficacy in producing favorable patient outcomes. We performed retrospective chart reviews and database queries in the clinic’s electronic medical record system to gather relevant patient care information. We then analyzed this data through various statistical methods to assess the care model’s effects on patient outcomes. Through this, we found evidence that this care model facilitates brief referral times with psychiatric specialists, and that treatment plans created here may contribute to a reduction in depressive and anxiety symptoms in a variety of patients.