http://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=63Recent posts in Gene "Rusty" Kallenberg: "I'm an Optimist"http://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=63#post112pRusty you truly are a leader in collaborative care. As a physician you have been able to blaze trails for our field in ways that we need I for one find you an exceptional leader in this area and one whose passion is inspiring. Whether you like it or not you are becoming one of those collaborative care leader folk type We need more like you ThanksppnbspppAnd to Randalls point - nationwide summit We are starting the beginnings of that at the CCRN meeting in Denver. Much much more to come on this front.phttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=63#post103pRusty Thanks for your work on the San Diego conference and California Summit.ppnbspppI LOVE this post.nbsp It captures the momentum and excitement of our time.nbsp Its great to see advances that are being made in California and elsewhere.nbsp I will be at the Summit and look forward to getting increased detail.ppnbspppIt seems like its almost time to do our first nationwide summit.nbsp There is now enough collaborative care progress in many states that we can begin creating the nationwide case for integration success.nbsp Perhaps the collaborative care one-pager that Frank deGruy mentions in his post could be a focal point for such a summit.phttp://www.cfha.net/forum_thread.php?t=63#post100p classMsoNormalIt seems that I have been caught up in a totally new life oflate.nbsp I have been hijacked by theCollaborative Care Movementnbsp I haveactually been a fan and practitioner of this movement for the past 10 years ormore.nbsp But for the last few months theride has become exponential.nbsp I have beena participant in the following activities that are part of this new acceleratedmovement to integrate mentalbehavioral health into Primary Carepp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal1 ndash Planning the Feb 2009 Annual Meeting of the Associationof Departments of Family Medicine ndash during which a major plenary was devoted toincorporating mental health care into the Patient-Centered Medical Home with agreat Canadian faculty Nick Kates who a titleNick Kates slideshow hrefpagesNick-Kates-Embedded-Psychiatry-Presentationrelated his 14 year experiencea ofembedding psychiatrists in general practice offices in Ontario.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal2 ndash Co-planning the Oct 2009 a titleConference Brochure hrefdocsCFHA-2009-Conference-brochure-v91409.pdfAnnual Meetinga of theCollaborative Family Healthcare Association CFHA ndash which is wholly devoted tointegrating mentalbehavioral health into primary care.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal3 ndash The above CFHA activity has also involved helping to organizethe associated a titleLink to Summit Letter hrefpagesCalifornia-Summit-LetterStatewide Summita on Integrating Primary Care and MentalHealthSubstance Use Services for the State of California. nbspThere will likely be 6043 participants in thisstatewide Summit.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal4 ndash In order to understand the content of the above Summit I became anadvisory board participant to the Integration Policy Initiative ndash acollaborative effort of the California Institute for Mental Health theCalifornia Primary Care Association and the Integrated Behavioral HealthProject funded by The California Endowment.nbsp During this tutelage I learned so far is that there are over a titleCalifornia Integrated Behavioral Health Project hrefpagesCalifornia-Integrated-Behavioral-Health-Project50 pilotprogramsa in collaborative care going on in California alonepp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal5 ndash At the 2008 CFHA meeting in Denver I participated in earlydiscussions about trying to establish the Collaborative Care Research Network a titleCCRN hrefhttpwww.aafp.orgonlineenhomeclinicalresearchnatnetccrn.htmlCCRNandash the brainchild of Rodger Kessler Ben Miller and others ndash which will be usedto assess the current state of the practice of collaborative care nationally andwill be the vehicle by which the movement will generate the evidence for thebenefits of collaborative care.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal6 ndash The CCRN discussions ended up allowing me to ndash in asmall way - participate in the planning for an AHRQ supported meeting to helpflesh out and launch the CCRN scheduled for October.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormal7 ndash As a follow on to the ADFM meeting ndash and with mucheffort of key leaders in the US collaborative care movement ndash there has been anew interest in MHBH 43 PC integration on the part of the Patient-CenteredPrimary Care Collaborative PCPCC which is emthe emdriving organization for the new emphasis on thePatient-Centered Medical Home in the health care reform effort.nbsp The PCPCC has led a series of 1043 nationalphone calls that have had as many as 4043 participants from as far away as England.nbsp This group of experts has greatly increasedthe PCPCCrsquos knowledge base and awareness of the importance of integrating MHBHand Substance Use into the ldquowhole personrdquo fabric of the PCMH.nbsp This effort may ultimately have an impact onthe NCQA designation of the critical elements needed for a PCMH.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormalNow I am relating these personal experiences not to blowany horns - as my participation has been more of a student and learner than asa major conceptualizer of the future.nbsp But rather to indicate the veritable emtsunami emof effort attention participation and beginning-growing influence onpublic policy that these efforts and others like them are having on health caredicsussions.nbsp The upcoming CaliforniaSummit will be the 5th one in as many years in association with theCFHA Annual Meeting - Washington Rhode Island West Virginiaand Coloradobeing the other four.nbsp The PCPCC and NCQAare certainly national organizations.nbsp Andwhile mental or behavioral health does not feature prominently in the billsbefore Congress ndash the practice community who will carry out health care underthe new policies is getting the message.pp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormalAnd in parallel with this very rewarding exposure to bothstate and national efforts I have tried to bring home to our own localclinical setting what I see as the increasingly clear pathways to the future ofcollaborative care.nbsp These involve notonly increasing the sophistication of our models of practice but also the newemphases on population management of mentalbehavioralsubstance issues in ourpatients emand emthe practice-basedresearch efforts that will serve to continuously improve the care we deliverand the outcomes we all seek.nbsp Theseefforts exactly parallel those we are now seeing applied to primary care andmedicine in general hence we are in good conceptual companypp classMsoNormalnbsppp classMsoNormalSo I am strongemoptimisticemstrong about the futurestrongemsemstrong ndash the future of collaborative care the future of American medicine and thefuture of the health and wellbeing of our patients clients their families andcommunitieshellipof our society.nbsp Life isgetting ever more complex and stressful.nbsp If we can put the mind and the body back together again ndash we will be upfor the challenge.p