Integrated care is not a new idea in North Carolina.  A number of exciting projects across North Carolina have been dedicated to testing effective models of collaboration between primary care and MH/DD/SAS providers.  The ICARE Partnership is committed to helping further our understanding of these approaches by sharing information about past and current projects.  In doing so, we hope to encourage synergy among ongoing efforts.  Below are some of the models from which we've been learning:   

The ICARE Local Model Development Project seeks to improve access to and quality of behavioral health care services by facilitating the development of community health care systems that are integrated and coordinated between behavioral and medical providers.  These coordinated systems of care will be able to provide services and make referrals at the most appropriate provider setting and with the most appropriate case management support. 

Following several community assessment and planning efforts, Mountain Area Health Education Center began The Integrated Care Project at the Buncombe County Health Center through a grant from the Duke Endowment.

As a result of efforts in mental health reform and changes in the local service delivery infrastructure, four CCNC networks working in concert with their local management entities (LMEs) began piloting (in July 2005) a collaborative approach to managing Medicaid enrollees who have both behavioral and physical health needs and serving them in the most appropriate setting.

The Primary Care-Children's Mental Health Initiative, led by professionals at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine served Forsyth, Davie, and Stokes counties.  Funded by the Duke Endowment, the initiative established co-located models of care that involved placement of mental health professionals into primary care practices.  Lessons learned from this initiative were published in the June 2006 issue of Clinical Pediatrics.  For more information, contact Jane M. Foy, MD.