Behavioral Health Integration Initiative
When a primary care provider sees a patient for a visit, three out of four appointments typically include a mental or behavioral health concern, such as depression, anxiety or substance use. However, many patients are unable to access the treatment they need due to barriers to care including provider shortages, fragmented care, high out-of-pocket costs and gaps in insurance coverage. Despite primary care physicians already managing overloaded schedules, they recognize the importance of improving how to address patients’ behavioral and mental health concerns to deliver patient-centered, whole-person care. One solution is integrating behavioral health into primary care.
CQC’s Behavioral Health Integration Initiative (2022-2027), empowers primary care teams to address behavioral health needs alongside physical health through technical assistance, multi-payer alignment and patient and family/caregiver feedback. The initiative includes several statewide programs:
- Direct technical assistance and funding to primary care practices implementing integrated models through programs like CalHIVE Behavioral Health Integration Improvement Collaborative
- Collective BHI Solutions, alignment efforts that bring together stakeholders across California’s delivery system, including purchasers, health plans and provider organizations, to solve shared challenges like behavioral health integration financing and data sharing
- Patient and family feedback, conducing listening sessions with better understand patient perspectives of their behavioral health needs, access to care and treatment
Support
CQC’s Behavioral Health Integration Initiative is possible thanks to the generous support of Centene Corporation, California Health Care Foundation and Blue Shield California Industry Initiatives.
Programs
CalHIVE Behavioral Health Integration
Read More about CalHIVE Behavioral Health IntegrationBehavioral Health Integration Initiative | Three-year improvement collaborative supporting California-based primary care practices to integrate behavioral health services.
Behavioral Health Integration – Children and Youth Collaborative Learning Exchange
Read More about Behavioral Health Integration – Children and Youth Collaborative Learning ExchangeDates Active: 2024–2025 | Behavioral Health Integration Initiative | The Behavioral Health Integration – Children and Youth Collaborative Learning Exchange is a nine-month learning collaborative for organizations experienced in integrating behavioral health services into primary care for children and youth.
Collective BHI Solutions
Read More about Collective BHI SolutionsBehavioral Health Integration Initiative | Alignment efforts bringing together stakeholders across California’s delivery system, including purchasers, health plans and provider organizations, to solve shared challenges like behavioral health integration financing.
Cal-IN Peer Group
Read More about Cal-IN Peer GroupBehavioral Health Integration Initiative | Quarterly peer group meetings for leaders working to integrate behavioral health care in primary care in California.
Featured
Defining Behavioral Health Integration in Advanced Primary Care
CQC’s new issue brief draws on insights from California and other states to inform how behavioral health integration can be implemented, supported and sustained.
Strengthening Pediatric Behavioral Health Integration: New Toolkit for Providers
The BHI-CYCLE Toolkit was developed from a statewide collaborative to help providers integrate behavioral health into pediatric primary care. The toolkit highlights seven key areas and features case studies from providers across California.
Scaling Behavioral Health Integration Across California
CQC’s Behavioral Health Integration Initiative reached over 730,000 Californians in 2024 by helping primary care teams expand screening, improve access and deliver more equitable care—strengthening whole-person health across communities.
Integrated Care Conference | Perspectives on Integrated Care Payment, Policy and Advocacy
Conference Date: June 5-6 Speaker: Kristina Mody, Director, Practice Transformation, California Quality Collaborative Topic: Perspectives on Integrated Care Payment, Policy […]
Resources
Aligning for Impact: A Shared Definition and Multi-Stakeholder Insights on BHI in California
Behavioral Health Integration Initiative Annual Report 2024
BHI Payer Workgroup Resources
BHI Children and Youth Collaborative Learning Exchange Toolkit
Behavioral Health Integration Billing and Coding Sheet
Sustainable Behavioral Health Integration Financing: Successful Practices and Opportunities
BHI Quarterly Implementation Update
Behavioral Health Integration Initiative Annual Report 2023
BHI Snapshot | Selecting an Integration Model
Behavioral Health Integration Implementation Plan
Our BHI Implementation Plan guides organizations through the creation of a plan that integrates multi-disciplinary team feedback to determine the integration model that best meets organizational needs.
Behavioral Health Integration Improvement Collaborative Curriculum
CQC Toolkit: Implement Adverse Childhood Experiences Screening in Primary Care
This toolkit is a collection of evidence-based interventions and resources for ambulatory care provider organizations to implement Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) screening and follow-up care.
Weaving Together Mental and Physical Health Care Outside the Safety Net
This 2020 paper, supported by the California Health Care Foundation, focuses on opportunities to support practice change in primary care to deliver integrated care outside the safety net.
CIN Toolkit: Three Strategies to Help Primary Care Teams Treat Substance Use Disorders
This document is a guide for primary care organizations and care teams working to integrate substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services.
Accelerating Opioid Safety Ambulatory Care Toolkit
The following document is a guide for provider organizations working to improve opioid safety — to prevent new populations of patients from becoming dependent on or addicted to opioids and improve care for patients with chronic non-cancer pain, opioid use disorder, and/or at risk of overdose.
Past Events and Training
CalHIVE BHI Collaborative’s 2025 Annual Convening
CalHIVE BHI collaborative members gathered for the third annual convening on May 13, 2025 to focus on spreading and sustaining their integrated programs.
Behavioral Health Integration Implementation Webinar Series
The California Quality Collaborative’s Behavioral Health Integration Implementation Webinar Series is a three-part webinar series for health care organizations planning and implementing behavioral health integration.
Behavioral Health Integration Financing Convening
The California Quality Collaborative’s Behavioral Health Integration Financing Convening brings together stakeholders to explore findings from statewide interviews on sustainable payment practices and brainstorm improvement opportunities for integrating behavioral health into primary care.
CQC Webinar: Behavioral Health Integration – Children and Youth Collaborative Learning Exchange Program
BHI-CYCLE is a nine-month learning collaborative beginning October 2024 that will bring together organizations experienced in integrating behavioral health services into primary care for children and youth.
2024 CalHIVE Behavioral Health Integration Annual Convening
The California Quality Collaborative’s CalHIVE Behavioral Health Integration Annual Convening is a two-day learning and networking session for improvement collaborative participants.
Cal-IN Peer Group
In partnership with the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, the California Quality Collaborative is hosting quarterly virtual peer group meetings for individuals working to integrate behavioral health care into the primary care setting in California.
Behavioral Health Integration Fundamentals: Concepts & Models
Integrating behavioral health into primary care is essential for providers looking to deliver patient-centered, high-quality and whole-person care. Yet many health care organizations struggle with knowing where to begin.
CQC Webinar – Behavioral Health Integration: Telehealth Promising Practices
Hear on-the-ground lessons around behavioral health integration, and understand opportunities around effective virtual care.
CQC Webinar: Increase Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Screening
Part of our ongoing Accelerated Integrated Care Series, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood and have been linked to more than 40 negative health conditions.
CQC Webinar: Increase Depression Screening
In this meeting, attendees shared challenges and questions related to depression screening at their organizations, and identified a next step they could apply at their own organizations.
Measure Screening and Access for Behavioral Health
Results from a Patient Assessment Survey (PAS) from a study of 35,000 patients across California were shared and discussion about how organizations can use data to help identify populations that need additional mental health support.
BHI Initiative Advisory Group
Vice President, Care Transformation, PBGH