Integrated Behavioral Health Adaptations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns threatened standard components of integrated behavioral health (IBH) such as in-person communication across care teams, screening, and assessment. Restrictions also exacerbated pre-existing challenges to behavioral health (BH) access.

Semistructured interviews were completed with clinicians from family medicine residency programs on the impact of the pandemic on IBH care delivery along with adaptations employed by care teams to ameliorate disruption.

Participants (n = 41) from 14 family medicine residency programs described the rapid shift to virtual care, creating challenges for IBH delivery and increased demand for BH services. With patients and care team members at home, virtual warm handoffs and increased attention to communication were necessary. Screening and measurement were more difficult, and referrals to appropriate services were challenging due to higher demand. Tele-BH facilitated continued access to BH services but was associated with logistic challenges. Participants described adaptations to stay connected with patients and care teams and discussed the need to increase capacity for both in-person and virtual care.

Most practices modified their workflows to use tele-BH as COVID-19 cases increased. Participants shared key learnings for successful implementation of tele-BH that could be applied in future health care crises.

Practices adapted readily to challenges posed by pandemic restrictions and their ability to sustain key elements of IBH during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates innovation in maintaining access when in-person care is not possible, informing strategies applicable to other scenarios.