UAMS and the Arkansas Department of Human Services announced a $9.5 million, five-year mental health grant program.
The funds will implement a mental health and behavioral health collaborative care model at 36 clinics and health centers across the state, UAMS said in a news release. The model links patients, primary care providers, behavioral health care managers and psychiatric consultants and uses an electronic registry to track patient treatment and progress.
UAMS said those reforms will streamline health care, improve coordination and make it easier to connect patients with psychiatric services.
Other program partners include the nonprofit Arkansas Behavioral Health Integration Network.
UAMS at first will add the collaborative model at three clinics and then expand its availability at additional sites through the rest of the grant period.
The grant will also fund the creation of a planning council that will work to make resources available for other primary care clinics across the state and support expanding the collaborative care model to other sites.
“There is a need for early identification of behavioral health needs across our state,” Paula Stone, director of the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health within DHS, said in the release. “These funds will help us increase access to services for a significant population, which will in turn prevent the need for crisis and other services in the future. We are grateful for the support of our partners and look forward to fully implementing this program.”
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