The Behavioral Health Integration Learning Community Program
Learning Communities have long been employed by LPHI to educate, inform, and support community partners through quality improvement and practice transformation initiatives.
As part of the New Orleans Charitable Health (NOCHF) program, LPHI initiated a regional Behavioral Health Integration Learning Community in 2013 to strengthen access and delivery of integrated primary care, behavioral health services, and social services. Additionally, LPHI engaged the National Council for Behavioral Health, national integration experts, to co-facilitate the endeavor.
The Behavioral Health Integration Learning Community (BHI-LC) was designed to improve access, quality, coordination, and sustainability of integrated models of care for health care providers. The format is based on growing evidence that collaborative learning approaches accelerate organizational and team work plan implementation. The BHI-LC is open to LPHI partners in the Greater New Orleans area and along the gulf coast that are delivering or interested in delivering behavioral health care, primary health care, and social services to underserved populations.
Owing to the integration successes seen by BHI-LC partners and with generous support from Baptist Community Ministries, LPHI continues to work in collaboration with GNO area behavioral health care, primary health care, social services providers, and the National Council for Behavioral Health to organize relevant and timely integrated care topics.
Additionally, the BHI-LC continues in its fourth year with the goal to enhance and sustain greater New Orleans behavioral health integration efforts in Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), and connecting local FQHC providers to a more robust community-based behavioral health referral network. This is done in partnership with Baptist Community Ministries, 504HealthNet, the Louisiana Primary Care Association, and the City of New Orleans Behavioral Health Council. The BHI-LC continues to function as a forum to develop GNO behavioral health care, primary health care, and/or social service providers operating with the Guiding Principles of:
- Community-based and whole person approach
- Evidence-based and/or promising innovative practices
- Quality improvement
In addition to the quarterly BHI-LC events, the Learning Community worked to:
- Inform policy
- Enhance referral networks
- Align policy and strategic investments
- Provide support for sustainable behavioral health services
To be added to the BHI-LC Invitation List please email mrelle@lphi.org.