Learn More About Integrated Care Through Special Track

The Institute on Psychiatric Services, which is being held October 30 to November 2 in San Francisco, is again including a series of sessions on integrated care through a special track. With the APA release of the report “Economic Impact of Integrated Medical-Behavioral Healthcare: Implications for Psychiatry” by Milliman Inc., last spring demonstrating the added cost of untreated mental health conditions to overall health care costs, psychiatrists must figure out how to extend their expertise in new ways. Experts from across the country and across the spectrum of collaborative care will provide presentations on a variety of topics, including the integration of mental health and primary care in both primary care clinics and public mental health settings serving as health homes for the serious mentally ill (SMI) population, as well as training the next generation of psychiatrists in these models and improving psychiatrists’ knowledge of common medical conditions and more.

A few highlights of this year’s program include the new advanced course “The Integration of Primary Care and Behavioral Health: Practical Skills for the Consulting Psychiatrist.” This all-day course, which will be held Thursday, October 30, will be chaired by me and Jürgen Unützer, M.D. Also on this day, following a year of an abundance of new research on tobacco cessation, Jill Williams, M.D., will issue a call to action for psychiatrists in the lecture “Smoking and Mental Illness: A Wake-Up Call for Psychiatrists.” Dr. Unützer will also provide the Health Services Senior Scholar Award Lecture, “Collaborative Care in Primary Care Settings.”

On Friday, October 31, is the symposium “Integrating Care: Psychiatry and Medicine in Service to Our Patients,” chaired by APA President Paul Summergrad, M.D. The session will include experts from across the field.

On Saturday, November 1, Joseph Parks, M.D., will present the lecture “Population Care Management by CMHC Health Homes,” highlighting the shift in the field from a focus on the health of individual patients to that of populations of patients under these new models. There will also be an encore seminar, “Primary Care Skills for Psychiatrists,” chaired by Erik Vanderlip, M.D., with his team of psychiatrists who are dual-boarded in medicine. They will use a a new case -based format for learning updates on the treatment of chronic medical conditions. A workshop on residency training, “Developing a Model Curriculum to Train Psychiatrists as Leaders in Integrated Care,” will be led by Ani Annamalai, M.D., and her colleagues.

Stay through Sunday, November 2, for several exciting presentations, starting with a symposium on the “Excellence in Mental Health Act” led by Dr. Parks. He will explore how new legislation and emerging models may help improve the health status of the SMI population. John Kern, M.D., will chair the workshop “Bipolar Disorder Treated in Primary Care Settings: Steps Toward a Standard of Care,” and co-presenter Joseph Cerimele, M.D., will lecture on his research on this topic.

Psychiatry is at a crossroads as the profession moves forward, and the Integrated Care Track will help prepare you for the transition. The complete track can be accessed here.

—Lori Raney, M.D. ■