New York Health Foundation: Integrating Mental Health and Substance Abuse Care

This GrantWatch article in the October 2013 issue of Health Affairs examines the New York Health Foundation’s efforts to ensure that New Yorkers coping with both substance use and mental health disorders receive integrated care that addresses both conditions at the same time.

The Foundation’s signature program in this area, the Center for Excellence in Integrated Care, worked with more than 600 mental health and substance use clinics over five years to make the changes necessary to deliver integrated care. The clinics involved in the program are now better able to screen, assess, and treat patients with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and the percentage of clinics using best practices doubled over the course of the program.