Leveraging the electronic medical record to measure fidelity to the primary care behavioral health model: Implications for clinical and research pursuits.

Abstract

Introduction: The primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model of integration has been widely implemented across a number of noteworthy health care systems. However, lack of consistent measurement and reporting of the degree to which the PCBH model has been implemented as developers intended has resulted in two disadvantages in the field. First, clinical quality improvement efforts are hampered by lack of clear guidance on what elements are central to PCBH implementation. Second, the dearth of empirical studies reporting model fidelity impedes cross-study comparisons and limits the rigor of PCBH-focused research. Efforts to expand measurement of PCBH model fidelity would benefit from identification of accessible, unbiased metrics that could complement existing self-report measures.

Method: In this article, we describe how we partnered with our clinical informatics team to incorporate PCBH fidelity metrics into the electronic medical record (EMR), allowing for monthly extraction and review of these data.

Results: Next, we describe how we have used monthly fidelity monitoring to inform clinical quality improvement efforts in the context of a developing integrated care program and provide an example of how PCBH fidelity data might be reported in a research article.

Discussion: Leveraging EMR data to support PCBH fidelity measurement has the potential to strengthen clinical quality improvement efforts and enable more consistent measurement and reporting of PCBH fidelity data in research. Future efforts should aim to parse out the relative contribution of different variables to the success of PCBH integration and evaluate the effectiveness of implementation strategies at supporting high fidelity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).