OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO INTEGRATION OF PRIMARY-CARE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH-CARE - FOCUS ON KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

As many as one in five primary care visits may be attributable to pati ents who require behavioral healthcare services. However, many primary care physicians lack the necessary knowledge and skills to detect, di agnose, treat, or refer patients with mental health or substance abuse conditions. The authors identify ten barriers to improving the behavi oral healthcare effectiveness of PCPs, and they describe the specializ ed training programs that overcome these barriers to improving the kno wledge and skills of primary care providers.