Collaborative documentation is far more than a technique for writing notes. When used intentionally, it becomes a foundation for partnership‑based care and serves multiple meaningful functions that shape the clinical encounter itself. The Functions of Collaborative Documentation A Process and an Outcome Collaborative documentation turns the note into both a shared activity and a tangible […]
Integrated Psychiatry in Pediatric Primary Care: A PCBH-Informed Approach
For these practices, an Integrated Psychiatry approach—directly informed by the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model—provides a flexible, population‑focused alternative. PCBH emphasizes rapid access, same‑day consultation, brief interventions, and team‑based care embedded directly within primary care workflows. Applying these principles, Integrated Psychiatry brings psychiatric expertise into the pediatric medical home, enhancing access, reducing stigma, strengthening […]
Psychologists in Primary Care Behavioral Health
Over time, I’ve noticed more PCBH job postings recruit only for LISW/LPCC/LMFT (or equivalent). From my experience, many psychologists would love to work in PCBH, but they never get the chance. Many job postings don’t even list psychologists as an option, and when contacted, organizations often can’t offer pay that fits the level of training […]
A Third Edition: Why Now and What’s It About?
Our book has six parts. The first is an update on the evidence for making this huge change to the scope and delivery of primary care services. We speak directly to leaders, with a hope of preparing them for a successful launch and scale-up. In the second and third sections, we provide information on specific […]
Maintaining a Systemic Focus: Navigating Health Together
Marcus is a 40‑year‑old African American man whose primary care provider (PCP) recently noted significant changes in mood following his ALS diagnosis two months ago. During several follow‑up appointments, the PCP observed that Marcus appeared less engaged, showed diminished interest in life, and expressed overwhelming concern about what the progression of the disease might mean […]
How States Are Modernizing Facility Licensure to Advance Integrated Care
Disclaimer: This blog was originally published on the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) website (nashp.org) on 11.18.25. It is reproduced here with the permission of the author. You can access the original blog post at this link: How States Are Modernizing Facility Licensure to Advance Integrated Care – NASHP Modernizing facility licensure is […]
How to Kill a Health System
Our national example has been Prospect Medical Holdings, a for-profit, 17-hospital chain serving mostly low-income patients in California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. As early as 2020, ProPublica, the independent investigative journalism outfit, published a lengthy expose about how Leonard Green and Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm which bought a controlling […]
The Science of Better Communication in Integrated Care
How Micro-Skills Shape Patient Outcomes and Interprofessional Collaboration through fostering an integrated care model that brings together medical, behavioral, and allied health professionals to provide comprehensive, whole-person treatment. Through this post we will dive into the argument that communication functions as a core clinical and operational competency in not only integrated care, but effective care. […]
“How Did We All Land Here? Systems Roots, Family Stories, and the Call to Integrated Behavioral Health”
Two LMFTs explore career choice through the lens of family-of-origin and a drive towards systems change–Part II of II Reflections on an Unusual Upbringing This two-part blog was inspired by a conversation I had with Jess at the CFHA Conference in Raleigh. We shared stories about our unique upbringings and decided to collaborate on a […]
“How Did We All Land Here? Systems Roots, Family Stories, and the Call to Integrated Behavioral Health”
Part 1 of 2 Two LMFTs explore career choice through the lens of family-of-origin and a drive towards systems change. This series was inspired by a conversation in Raleigh at the end of Day 2 of the annual conference. Jess & Chus Is it fate? Destiny? A series of tiny nudges and moments?Is it a […]
Slot Utilization Is Not a Metric for Integrated Care
Nearly every time we work with consulting clients working on implementing integrated care the complaint is the same. There’s a healthcare administrator breathing down their neck about how many scheduling slots are going unutilized. It’s as if the golden hammer of healthcare optimization is managing slots. It’s time we call this what it is – […]
What if the integrated primary care continuum included dyadic, preventive behavioral health services beginning at birth?
During that first visit, it became clear that this new father–infant dyad had no established connection. They had met only a few times, Dad lacked basic supplies such as clothes, a crib, and a car seat, and he was anxious, overwhelmed, and unsure how to begin bonding with his baby. Over the following visits, I […]
Not Enough Money For Integrated Care & Other Lies We Tell Ourselves
By Neftali Serrano, PsyD Far too often, I hear the same weary refrain from healthcare professionals championing integrated care: “My leaders tell me that my integrated care program is just not making us enough money.” Let’s be clear—this isn’t a financial question. It’s a philosophical one dressed up in a spreadsheet. Because when a leadership […]
Prescription: Hope
Maria, RN By three in the afternoon, the clinic always felt a little frayed at the edges. The hum of printers, the faint ring of unanswered phone lines, the blinking of notices for new results — it all blended into the kind of background noise you stop noticing until the day feels heavy. It was […]
We Need A Federal Director of Integrated Care
Why We Need Dedicated Integrated Care Directors — At Every Level of the Health System If you’ve spent any time in the integrated care space, you know the pattern: A grant funds a pilot. A bold health plan tries something innovative. A state rolls out a value-based model. Then people move on, funding dries up, […]
Designing for Healing: What the Bauhaus Movement Can Teach Us About Integrated Care Spaces
The question is: how can a design philosophy rooted in early modernism help us create healthcare spaces that are more human, efficient, holistic, and equitable? The answer might partially lie in six Bauhaus ideas that seem to align perfectly with the aims of integrated care. 1. Form Follows Function At the core of Bauhaus design […]
Igniting Change in Integrated Care: Highlights from CFHA’s 2025 Conference
The Firestarter Framework: Fueling Passion and Purpose Dr. Thomas opened her session delving into the Firestarter Framework to explore our personal journeys in Integrated Care leadership and inspire participants to carry the CFHA “spark” home after the conference, igniting ongoing passion for integration. This framework classifies drivers of change into three groups. These Firestarter types […]
AHRQ’s Newly Updated MOUD Playbook: A Stronger Resource for Primary Care Providers in a Changing Landscape
What’s New in the MOUD Playbook The updated Playbook offers several key enhancements: · A stronger emphasis on low-barrier, person-centered care. The Playbook underscores that using MOUD saves lives and should not be withheld due to continued substance use or resistance to counseling. It highlights the need for stigma reduction, appropriate levels of care, and […]


















