Behavioral health has been identified as a health need across Intermountain’s footprint. Intermountain’s Community Health team has a comprehensive approach to improve mental health, and reduce substance use and suicide rates.
One way to improve lives is to get people the help they need when they need it. Jordan Merrill, a Community Health program manager, explains that one of the biggest issues in behavioral health was the long wait times for community members. Intermountain collaborated with the Association for Utah Community Health (AUCH) and behavioral health providers to create the Behavioral Health Network (BHN) in Utah to address this issue.
“When people are in crisis, they can’t wait weeks to be seen,” Jordan said. “What started out with a few partners in different regions who agreed to hold reserved slots for community members has turned into a full network where people are seen within seven days of referral.”
Made up of nearly 40 organizations across the state, the BHN not only expedites care for those in crisis, it also allows people to receive care without fear of being rejected due to lack of insurance or inability to pay.
How the BHN works
Intermountain has provided funding to the Association for Utah Community Health. AUCH works collaboratively with behavioral health providers across Utah and Idaho. Community members who are uninsured or underinsured and are below 200% of the federal poverty level can receive free behavioral health and/or substance use disorder treatment. Intermountain's Behavioral Health Clinical Program Patient Navigators also help ensure people get access to the right care with the least amount of burden, as well as those referred by other organizations or self-referred.
Lori Wright, MPA, has been the CEO of Family Healthcare for more than 10 years. With offices in St. George, Hurricane, Cedar City, and Springdale, Family Healthcare is part of the BHN and gets referrals from Intermountain regularly.
“We take a lot of pride in making sure that we always have access,” Lori said. The organization had about 67,000 community member visits across the four locations just last year. They take an integrated approach with primary care and behavioral health.
“I love this program—it’s pretty spectacular because it marries really well with proactive care,” Lori said.
Family Healthcare, along with the other organizations in the BHN, ensure people in crisis get seen in seven days or less.
Community members who receive services through the BHN are eligible for up to 10 visits with the first five completely free of charge. Co-pays are allowed using the organization’s sliding fee scale for visits six and up. The BHN has seen about 25,500 community members since 2018.
AUCH manages the BHN program by onboarding providers, allocating funding, and collecting data on patient demographics and program utilization for reporting purposes.
“This model is not commonly found across the country,” Jordan said. “We are grateful for our partner organizations who make this possible.”
As part of an ongoing cycle of improving, the Community Health team at Intermountain is looking at how to take lessons learned from the BHN work to support similar improvements to behavioral health access and quality in other states.