Integrated Primary Care in Assertive Community Treatment

Abstract

Assertive community treatment (ACT) has the potential to serve as a medical home for adults with serious mental illness, a population that experiences some of the most significant health disparities in the United States. Using site visit methodology, the authors describe partnerships that were created between five ACT programs and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) to provide integrated behavioral health and primary care. The authors examined rates of screening for common chronic conditions. The programs used three distinct approaches: two programs colocated ACT teams at an FQHC, two programs employed primary care providers who split their time between the FQHC and the ACT program, and one program embedded a primary care provider within the ACT team. Effective communication between staffs may be more important than type of partnership in determining integration success.