Collective BHI Solutions

Integrating behavioral health into primary care ensures providers deliver timely, patient-centered, comprehensive whole-person care while expanding access to behavioral health services, improving patient outcomes, enhancing care team satisfaction and reducing total cost of care. CQC’s Collective BHI Solutions consist of alignment efforts that bring together stakeholders across California’s delivery system, including purchasers, health plans and provider organizations, to address specific pain points such as defining behavioral health integration and behavioral health integration financing.

Behavioral Health Integration Payer Workgroup (2025)

In 2025, CQC will be convening a workgroup supporting commercial health plans to:

• Collaborate with peers and subject matter experts to facilitate BHI implementation for plans and providers
• Co-design documents to help prepare plans and providers for BHI implementation:
  • BHI Policy/FAQ for plans
  • BHI implementation guide for providers
  • BHI data request process
• Create a network of health plan leaders ready to support BHI

Workgroup documents will be shared publicly.

Participating organizations: Aetna, Blue Shield of California, HealthNet, United with Optum, Western Health Advantage with Optum

Multistakeholder Alignment for BHI (2025)

CQC will conduct interviews with four states experienced in multistakeholder alignment for BHI. Additionally, CQC will draft a proposed definition of behavioral health integration in primary care through a consensus process with various California stakeholders. Interview findings will be synthesized into recommendations for California in Q4 2025.

Behavioral Health Integration – Financing Opportunities (2024)

In 2024, CQC conducted a state-wide landscape assessment project to identify, synthesize and communicate successful practices to ensure sustainable payment for behavioral health integration into primary care. CQC interviewed key stakeholders, including health plans and provider organizations, addressing related contracts, claims, credentialing and strategic planning, summarized in our Sustainable Behavioral Health Integration Financing: Successful Practices and Opportunities issue brief. The paper identifies practices that facilitate sustainable payment for behavioral health integration (BHI) into primary care in commercial settings for providers, payers, purchasers and regulators.

Support

Behavioral Health Integration Financing is possible thanks to the generous support of Blue Shield California Industry Initiatives.