The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC) announced a project with the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) to identify areas for improving the Behavioral Health Integration Program (BHIP) June 14.

The project focuses on improving utilization of and access to Navy Internal Behavioral Health Consultants (IBHCs) in the BHIP.

The ongoing collaboration between NMCPHC's Health Analysis department and BUMED will result in improved, comprehensive mental health care for service members and their families.

BHIP is BUMED's program of record designed to seamlessly integrate mental health care into the Medical Home Port (MHP). MHP was mandated in 2010 to focus on readily accessible, comprehensive and patient-centered care for eligible enrollees across the Department of Defense.

The BHIP-MHP program is working to address any unmet mental health and health-behavior needs of active-duty service members, veterans, their families, and other eligible enrollees by increasing access to mental health care and health-behavior services in the primary care setting.

IBHCs are credentialed psychologists and social workers who are integrated into primary care facilities throughout the Navy in accordance with both DoD and BUMED instruction. This framework allows patients to access same-day mental and behavioral health support near home and work and in their familiar medical home setting without requiring a referral.

In 2015, BUMED asked NMCPHC's HA to conduct a program evaluation of IBHC utilization within BHIP. Part of the evaluation involved two HA representatives attending a Tri-Service IBHC training to identify underdeveloped areas in the material that might contribute to a lack of IBHC utilization.

"Attending the training gave us a firsthand perspective of a typical IBHC appointment, helping us identify measurable process improvement points," said Kathryn Pelchy, epidemiologist with NMCHPC's HA department.

After attending the training and analyzing their observations, the HA representatives made several recommendations to help improve the effectiveness of the IBHC training program. Some of these recommendations -- including decisions on policy, staffing, workload documentation, Primary Care Manager (PCM) education, and IBHC training -- were immediately implemented by BUMED.

"Our recommendations directly impacted the program by enhancing education surrounding IBHC functions," said Anna Carrol, NMCPHC epidemiologist and training representative. "This understanding has increased IBHC utilization, enhancing access to key mental health services across the enterprise."

While the project is still ongoing, NMCPHC's Health Analysis department is optimistic that further evaluation will strengthen the BHIP-MHP program in the long term.

"This assessment was the first step [in] an ongoing effort to support process improvement efforts for the BHIP program," said Jenny Snyder, NMCPHC HA communications lead. "We look forward to continuing our efforts to enhance behavioral health care across Navy Medicine."

For more information about NMCPHC'S HA department, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmcphc/health-analysis/Pages/default.aspx/.

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