New collaboration aims to improve mental health services for primary care patients

Northwestern Medicine, West Health, and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute have announced a new collaboration that will make accessing care to evidence-based mental health services faster and easier for primary care patients across Northwestern Medicine.

This $8.6 million multi-year initiative from West Health will establish the Northwestern Medicine West Health Accelerator, which will provide access to comprehensive psychiatric services for primary care practices throughout Northwestern Medicine, expanding access to mental health care and promoting earlier intervention.

Across the United States and Chicagoland, the demand for high-quality treatments for the most common mental health conditions continues to grow. This collaboration with West Health will help transform mental health care by delivering efficient, effective and equitable behavioral health services to patients, while expanding access to care.”

Sachin Patel, MD, PhD, chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern Medicine

It is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults or 59.3 million people were living with a mental illness in 2022 and little more than half (50.6%) received treatment within the prior year.

To address the growing problem for demand in mental health services, Northwestern Medicine started its Collaborative Behavioral Health Program (CBHP) in 2018, which integrates mental health care into primary care settings to help manage population health across all generations, and scale and optimize equitable treatment for patients. Since 2018 CBHP has expanded and now is available to patients who are seen in any of the 75 different primary care locations across the NM System.

The success and recent expansion of CBHP has led to West Health collaborating with Northwestern Medicine and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute to increase utilization of the program and help facilitate expansion of similar programs across the United States.

“We believe in taking bold moves and this collaboration could be transformative,” said Shelley Lyford, CEO and Chair, West Health, which includes the West Health Institute and Gary and Mary West Foundation, which have funded and helped shape more than $500 million in initiatives that lower healthcare costs and improve aging in America. “We will leverage the unique resources, technologies, capabilities and expertise of each organization and design a robust evidenced-based care model that can be optimized across health systems and regions throughout the country.”

“The Meadows Institute is honored to partner with Northwestern Medicine and West Health to expand access to quality mental health care,” said Andy Keller, the President and CEO, Meadows Institute. “The integrated care model is a proven, effective way to ensure people receive the treatment they need as early as possible.”

The Northwestern Medicine West Health Accelerator – which is backed by national experts in primary care, psychiatry and psychology – will bring new capabilities and expertise to include patient care, technology, business development and data management to develop best practices and resources.