Consultation Services

HOW are my Services Different from Traditional Mental Health Counseling?

The Integrative Behavioral Health Care Provider (IBHCP) simply adds another option for your patients complete health care by providing consultation and brief intervention, not traditional psychotherapy and when needed make referrals to specialty mental health services. The IBHCP can be located within your clinic or can provide services from other locations and communicate all information with the treatment team via electronic health records or any agreed upon HIPAA compliant method of communication.

WHAT Can The Patient Expect When Seen by an IBHCP?

The IBHCP will ask you specific questions about the patient’s physical symptoms, the emotional concerns they are experiencing, their behaviors, and how all of these might be related.

Appointments with an IBHCP typically last about 30 minutes or less when they are housed inside your clinic. The IBHCP will provide brief, solution-focused skills and techniques to patients referred to them.  The IBHCP works closely with the primary medical provider and utilizes hallway handoffs (when co-located) to receive information about patients needing their services. The IBHCP’s main job is to help develop and implement the most helpful healthcare plan.  IBHCP’s are consultants for the physicians they work with as well as clinicians to their patients. The IBHCP will work with the primary care treatment team in situations to ensure that good health care involves paying attention not only to physical health, but also to emotional health, habits, behaviors, and how those things interact with each other.

Duties and Responsibilities

The IBHCP’s role is limited to that of a consultant. Scope of care and responsibilities include:

• Targeted assessment and evaluation, including diagnostic impressions and functional status focused on the presenting problem
• Timely and succinct feedback to Primary Care Providers regarding consultation findings and recommendations
• Concise documentation in the patient’s medical record
• Triaging and referring patients to specialty mental health care when appropriate.
• Formulation of behavioral health interventions appropriate to the primary care setting, and assisting with implementation of Primary Care Provider’s treatment plans
• Providing brief follow-up, including relapse-prevention education
• Developing, teaching, and/or providing oversight for classes that promote education and skill-building to enhance psychological and physical health
• Providing on-going consultation services for a sub-set of patients who require on-going monitoring and follow-up (i.e., continuity consultations)
• Sharing knowledge with other team members and patients, both formally (in-services, consult responses) and informally (hallway conversations)
• Working as a primary care team member to develop specific clinical pathways or best practice programs for targeted patient groups (e.g., patients with anxiety, depression or PTSD)

Qualifications

IBHCPs are privileged providers with doctoral degrees in the integration of behavioral health theory and application into medical settings.  They receive specialized training and education in population health management, healthcare economics, pathology and how to correct disease states with behavioral health techniques, nutritional counseling and exercise as well as several other aspects of Lifestyle Medicine. 

Knowledge

1. Understand the relationship between medical and psychological aspects of health and disease: apply the biopsychosocial model to the primary care setting, and demonstrate a basic knowledge of pharmacotherapy

Clinical

1. Apply population-based healthcare principles
2. Provide services appropriate to the primary care environment: perform focused assessment and rapid problem identification; use 15-30 minute visits; limit problem definition and address patients’ needs within a limited number of follow-up visits, and demonstrate knowledge of interventions that can be used by members of the medical care team (e.g. Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, and Guided Imagery)
3. Employ empirically supported interventions: identify, adapt, and apply empirically supported interventions to the broad range of problems presenting in the medical setting
4. Identify functional outcomes
5. Plan, develop, and provide lifestyle classes: offer educational and skill-building classes that enhance health and improve functioning, and teach group-facilitation skills to other medical care team members
6. Triage patients to specialty care services and community resources: demonstrate an understanding of the scope of practice for the medical environment; provide care for all patients within that scope, and appropriately refer those who require alternative care

Administrative

1. Function as an interdisciplinary team member: work as a consultant to the treating physician, who makes all patient care decisions; focus on the referral question; persistently follow up with the medical treatment team; tailor recommendations to the pace of the medical practice; and devise services that reduce physician workload
2. Use clear verbal and written communication: respond to any consultative question in language free of psychological jargon, and document services and recommendations in a concise, actionable manner

Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this information at (704) 896-6044 ext. 4.

Brelonda R. Walker, DBH, LPCS, BCIM, BC-TMH, NCC