Psychiatric consultants retreat to improve clinical outcomes

Department news | June 30, 2015


The Division of Integrated Care and Public Health held a retreat for UW-partner Collaborative Care Consultants on May 1st. This retreat drew over 20 psychiatrists from both academic and community settings who currently provide consultation in our Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP), Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP), or Social Innovation Fund: Health Futures programs. The theme of this retreat was scaling the consultation programs to better meet the needs of the population served. John Fortney, PhD kicked off the retreat with an excellent presentation summarizing his research on the role of telepsychiatry in Collaborative Care settings. Following this, we conducted several breakout sessions to discuss tracking clinical outcomes following psychiatric consultation, improving efficiency of case reviews, operationalizing telepsychiatry in Collaborative Care, and assuring population health for entire populations. The cumulative energy and expertise at this retreat was impressive, and the meeting served as a great opportunity for brainstorming next steps for improvements and innovation in these programs. We plan to get reports with action plans out to participants and stakeholders within the next couple of months. We want to thank everyone who participated in the retreat and who stepped up to help carry out many of the great ideas forward!