Behavioral Health Integration Improves Total Cost of Care at University of Rochester Medical Center

New York-based University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is an academic medical center focused on health research, teaching and patient care. URMC has more than 26,000 employees, which makes it the largest component of the University of Rochester, the largest private sector employer based in New York State.

Like the rest of the United States, upstate New York has seen an influx of psychiatric and substance use disorders even before the COVID pandemic, which exacerbated the trend. As demand for behavioral health services continued to grow across URMC’s sites and patient population, primary care providers and specialists felt the impact.

In response, URMC psychiatrist George Nasra, M.D., and colleagues asked URMC leadership to invest in models to integrate primary and behavioral health. With the health system’s support, Nasra and colleagues launched the Division of Collaborative Care and Wellness. Between 2016 and 2018, URMC integrated behavioral health services in 12 in-house and locally affiliated primary care practices. Since then, the division’s reach and impact have expanded, improving patient outcomes and experience, reducing total cost of care and improving workforce satisfaction.

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