Extending the Clinical Impact of Behavioral Health Prescribing Clinicians Using the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) was published February 2024 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM). This article evaluated if CoCM could extend the reach of prescribing clinicians, allowing them to treat more patients than they could on their own in the same amount of time, thus alleviating the impacts of a behavioral healthcare system that is under-resourced.
The authors compared clinicians who were part of a CoCM Team, serving as the Psychiatric Consultant, to those who work in a traditional individualized treatment model. The analysis found clinicians working in highly efficient CoCM programs could extend their reach as much as 8.3 times that of those working in traditional care models. Additionally, authors found that clinicians working in lower performing CoCM programs have patient volumes comparable with usual care. These results suggest that CoCM is a potential evidence-based, financially sustainable solution to the behavioral health workforce shortage.