In our words: Patient reports of the utility of primary care behavioral health services.

Abstract

Background: The primary care behavioral health (PCBH) model of integrated care has been successfully implemented and evaluated in diverse settings. The most common metrics of PCBH service outcomes include provider and patient satisfaction, patient symptom changes, provider productivity, and utilization rates. Missing is the broader perspective of the patient. To address this gap, we solicited qualitative feedback from PCBH patients about the benefits of PCBH services.

Method: Primary care patients (n = 135; M_age = 28.31, 52.6% White, 25.9% Hispanic/Latinx, 72.6% female) seen by six behavioral health interns at two primary care clinics over a 13-month period responded to an open-ended question about what they found most helpful about that day's session.

Results: Roughly half of patient responses about PCBH session benefits encompassed nonspecific aspects of therapy (49.6%), while nearly two-thirds (63.0%) mentioned specific therapeutic techniques delivered by clinicians in session as most helpful. In terms of nonspecific benefits of PCBH, many patients described benefitting from having space to talk, receiving validation, and instillation of hope. Specific aspects of treatment patients reported were helpful included skill building, resource sharing, goal setting/treatment planning, psychoeducation/guidance, and specific cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.

Conclusion: PCBH relies on both nonspecific relational components and special therapy techniques; both are useful to patients, and neither is frequently included in routine evaluations of the effectiveness of PCBH and other models of integrated care. Our findings support the benefits of including patient input when conducting outcome monitoring within the PCBH model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).