Advancing Mental Health and Primary Care Collaboration in the Public Sector New Directions for Mental Health Services, Number 81

The integration of primary care and mental health in the public sector promises both financial savings and improved care for patients, who benefit from the collaborative treatment of their physical and mental health. Yet integration quickly proves a complex task. With their different models of care, histories, and priorities, the primary care and mental health domains have trouble communicating, much less collaborating. In this issue of New Directions for Mental Health Services, mental health and primary care providers come together to discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by integration. Drawing from their experiences, the authors examine the forces both for and against integration; offer suggestions for effective cooperation between the specialties; and explore the issues of gatekeeping, authorization, and confidentialityThis is the 81st issue of quarterly journal New Directions for Mental Health Services.

RUPERT R. GOETZ is adjunct associate professor of psychiatry and associate director of the Public Psychiatry Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University and medical director of the Office of Mental Health Services for the state of Oregon. DAVID A. POLLACK is adjunct associate professor of psychiatry and associate director of the Public Psychiatry Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University. DAVID L. CUTLER is professor of psychiatry and director of the Public Psychiatry Training Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health Sciences University