"How Integrated Behavioral Health Works in Primary Care: An Observational Analysis"
JCPMS
December 2025
An original article titled “How Integrated Behavioral Health Works in Primary Care: An Observational Analysis,” published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings (JCPMS), featured several contributors from the Department of Family Medicine (listed alphabetically): Shandra Brown Levey, PhD; Marisa Kostiuk, PhD; Carlee Kreisel, MPH; Jodi Summers Holtrop, PhD, MCHES; Lauren Tolle, PhD; and Vanessa Owen, MA.
The study looked at how mental health providers work when embedded within regular medical clinics. Researchers tracked 13 providers for a full day in seven primary care clinics.
From the article:
“The study highlights the complexities of care and breadth of services that (behavioral health providers) BHPs support in their practices. To our knowledge, this is the first published study that details BHP roles in an (integrated behavioral health) IBH model that uses this type of observational analysis. In any given clinical day, BHPs are providing individual behavioral health visits, coordinating with team members, supervising and training behavioral health learners, and ensuring that team members remember BHPs are available, along with conducting all the required administrative tasks.
The work of the BHP is important in meeting the behavioral health needs of the primary care population, and this study furthers the understanding of what that work entails, highlights the challenges, and informs recommendations for implementing and improving IBH. We hope that this information may be used to advocate for needed changes in the payment for, workforce needs and implementation processes of IBH.”
Read more of their methods and analysis from the Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings.
