Brief introductions to increase engagement with integrated psychology services in primary care.

Abstract

Background: Warm handoffs have shown to improve engagement in care for integrated services; however, often patients cannot stay for an additional appointment. The current work set out to understand if a brief introduction-a nonbillable encounter where a psychology team member meets with the patient and schedule a future appointment-can improve attendance in care for patients.

Method: Participants included 171 patients who were referred to an integrated psychology team with behavioral health consultants (BHCs) within a primary care clinic. Data was tracked from December 2023 until February 2024. Team members were asked to notify the psychology team when placing a referral to complete a warm handoff or brief introduction. Referrals, brief introductions, and attendance were pulled from the electronic medical record.

Results: About 38.6% of patients referred to the psychology team completed a brief introduction with a BHC. About 80.3% of patients who completed a brief introduction went on to complete a visit with a BHC whereas 57.1% of those who were referred for an appointment without a brief introduction completed an appointment. There is a significant relationship between the brief introduction and attendance at a future appointment (McNemar's test χ² = 28.99, p < .01).

Discussion: Briefly meeting with a BHC is linked with attendance at future visits. The current work extends research with warm handoffs to show that a brief nonbillable encounter is associated with engagement in psychological services in an integrated care setting with a diverse patient population and calls for specificity in strategies to increase patient engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).