title: Primary Care Behavioral Health Provider Training: Systematic Development and Implementation in a Large Medical System.
abstract: The expansion of integrated, collaborative, behavioral health services in primary care requires a trained behavioral health workforce with specific competencies to deliver effective, evidence-informed, team-based care. Most behavioral health providers do not have training or experience working as primary care behavioral health consultants (BHCs), and require structured training to function effectively in this role. This article discusses one such training program developed to meet the needs of a large healthcare system initiating widespread implementation of the primary care behavioral health model of service delivery. It details the Department of Defense's experience in developing its extensive BHC training program, including challenges of addressing personnel selection and hiring issues, selecting a model for training, developing and implementing a phased training curriculum, and improving the training over time to address identified gaps. Future directions for training improvements and lessons learned in a large healthcare system are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Deployment Health Clinical Center, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, 1335 East West Highway, 3rd Floor, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA. anne.c.dobmeyer.mil@mail.mil.
authors.forename: Anne C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Dobmeyer
authors.affiliation: Patient-Centered Medical Home Branch, Defense Health Agency, Falls Church, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Health Integration Program, Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Falls Church, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Meghan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Corso
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Health Optimization Program, Air Force Medical Operations Agency, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: Deployment Health Clinical Center, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, 1335 East West Highway, 3rd Floor, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA.|Department of Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kent A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Corso
authors.affiliation: Behavioral Health in Patient-Centered Medical Home, National Capital Region Medical Directorate, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Polizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Health, Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Ft. Gordon, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Earles
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care
keywords: Collaborative primary care; Integrated primary care; Mental health; Primary care behavioral health; Training