Behavioral Health Integration and Guidance Initiative

Given that half of all mental health conditions manifest by age 14, and on average it takes from eight to 10 years to receive care once symptoms emerge, it is critical for health systems to identify, assess, and then provide effective care more quickly.

Getting Better Care, Sooner
Children’s Health, a top-rated children’s hospital in North Texas, in partnership with the Meadows Institute, established the Behavioral Health Integration and Guidance (BHIG) Initiative to equip pediatric primary care providers with tools to better detect and treat mild-to-moderate behavioral health conditions in a pediatric primary care setting. The BHIG Initiative provides training, support, and the resources necessary to implement elements of behavioral health integration (BHI) — with a specific focus on the evidence-based Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) — into pediatric primary care practices.

Trainings are offered online and in-person at the Children’s Health primary care clinic, the first in the nation to serve as a learning laboratory and best-in-class provider of pediatric integrated care. The center, which has been temporarily housed at Children’s Health Specialty Center DeSoto, will eventually move to its permanent location at the Reimagine RedBird development.

Through the BHIG Initiative, providers have access to a series of modules on Measurement Based Care and Models of BHI in addition to clinically focused topics like depression, anxiety, trauma, substance use, and more. Providers also participate in conference sessions featuring in-depth discussions on key topics, along with peer-to-peer learning using real-world examples. Continuing education credits are available, as well as access to Children’s Health resources, including consultation services and clinic referrals.

System Transformation
By serving the core needs of provider training, practice improvement, and community-and system-level advancement, the BHIG Initiative is already generating large-scale improvements in health care for children and youth in Texas.