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Behavioral health has historically taken a back seat to physical health in primary care. That approach is shifting, as growing evidence underscores the importance of whole-person well-being in improving patient outcomes, strengthening care coordination and advancing value-based care.
For decades, and in some settings still today, people facing mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and stress have encountered stigma and the perception that these conditions were somehow separate from the health concerns typically addressed in primary care. However, as medicine has evolved and research has shed greater light on the connection between mental and physical health, behavioral health has become an increasingly important consideration in efforts to improve patient outcomes.
In the era of value-based care, treating behavioral health as separate from primary care is increasingly difficult to justify. Specifically, the value-based emphasis on quality, outcomes, and whole-person care makes a strong case for addressing behavioral health within the primary care setting. Doing so allows physicians to respond to patients’ needs more fully while supporting their overall health and well-being.