Log In


Reset Password
Columnists View from the Center Bear Smart The Travel Troubleshooter Dear Abby Student Aide Of Sound Mind Others Say Powerful solutions You are What You Eat Out Standing in the Fields What's up in Durango Skies Watch Yore Topknot Local First RE-4 Education Update MECC Cares for kids

What is integrated health care?

By Stephanie Allred

Axis Health System

We have many great health-care providers in our community who are committed to their patients. Yet our community is not different than other communities across the country in which health-care costs keep rising while health outcomes keep declining. The Affordable Care Act has helped many more people have access to health care. While this is important, access to care alone has not demonstrated improved health for our population.

Evidence is building: We simply need to do something different.

Reflect on a recent health issue you or a family member had to face. Maybe this was an injury, a mental-health concern or help needed in managing a chronic condition. What made the difference in your experience of care? Did you have the outcome you were seeking? Was care implemented in a cost-effective manner? Were you given support in both what to do next and how to do it?

For many consumers of health services, there are both positive experiences and frustrations. Patients may greatly appreciate the relationship they have with their health provider yet may not feel their concerns are being adequately addressed.

Integrated health care is about treating the whole person, recognizing health is affected not just by medical treatments, but also by stress, family relationships, depression, substance use and environmental factors, to name just a few. Yes, our heads and mouths are attached to our bodies – behavioral health and dental issues affect our health. Integrated health care is about knowing more about how all these factors interrelate and developing new, innovative approaches to improve the health of a population in a cost-effective way.

Integrated health care is about changing the experience of care, empowering patients with the knowledge, choice and skills to be healthy without impairment to do the things most important to them. It is about bringing providers together in a different way, leveraging their expertise and experience and making them better providers through close collaboration with other disciplines.

Integrated health care is about focusing on outcomes, not just on visits. For example, medical providers have great knowledge and advice for patients to improve their health, while behavioral-health providers are experts in helping patients figure out how to make these suggested changes. If patients are not improving, we need to identify this quickly and implement a different approach.

Integrated health care is about using technology to improve communication, track outcomes and ensure all parties have the information they need to achieve the best outcomes, especially patients. It is about reducing stigma for mental-health and substance-use difficulties and incorporating screening and treatment as a standard of effective health care. It is taking the unrealistic expectation of meeting all of their patients’ needs away from our primary-care physicians and giving patients a care team to provide comprehensive support to meet their health goals.

It is time to challenge our definition of health care. This includes how health issues are identified and treated, how care is being provided, how patients access the care they need, how providers are brought together and how outcomes are being tracked. As we continue to push for better health integration, we are likely to see improved health in our community.

Stephanie Allred, Ph.D., is the senior clinical director for Axis Health System.



Reader Comments