Ann Sullivan, MD, Commissioner of the NYS Office of Mental Health (left), and State Senator Gustavo Rivera (right) joined Irene Kaufmann, BPHC Executive Director (center), at the launch of BPHC’s Behavioral Health DSRIP project.
People with mental illness are disproportionately affected by diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and overall poor health. On average, they die 20 years earlier than the general population because of inadequate medical care. Yet primary care and behavioral health services in New York State have traditionally been provided for and billed separately.
BPHC has brought together more than 40 representatives from leading Bronx behavioral health organizations to develop a model of care that treats people with both mental health and medical needs in a more comprehensive manner.
This includes making sure that behavioral health and primary care teams are working together and communicating about a patient’s needs and that all providers are using standardized tools for ADHD, mental health and substance abuse screening.
Reaching young people with mental health or substance abuse issues as early as possible is a major factor to setting the stage for success. As part of this DSRIP project, BPHC is working with 10 Bronx schools to train counselors and teachers to identify and connect kids who have emotional, behavior or substance abuse challenges to the right doctors and support.
Published February 23, 2017