Mustard Seed Community Health Clinic’s mission is to provide high quality, holistic, integrated health care to those in need, in an environment that dignifies and empowers the whole person. The COE has worked alongside Mustard Seed the last 3 years to help further this mission. Natosha Knight, the on-site full-time behavioral health clinician, has worked alongside Dr. Elizabeth Mulberry and they have continued to improve the ability to coordinate care for patients with complex and chronic conditions including co-morbid conditions or co-occurring disorders. Knight states that “meeting with Sara, our COE integration specialist, has been very helpful in allowing us to assess and think through what integrated care looks like for a small community clinic. Being a part of the [Cone Health Foundation Access to Care] collaboration has also allowed us to see models of integrated care at different locations so that we can figure out what works best for us.”

Additionally, the clinic has taken on two to three MSW interns who have participated in and benefitted from the trainings provided by the COE. COE is pleased to be a part of this workforce development. Knight noted that, “the trainings have been so useful in learning practical information around brief intervention, community resources, cultural humility and substance use,” and have been most helpful to her as an LCSW, “…in terms of learning new interventions or new information.”

COE’s onsite technical assistance has included meeting with just the providers or the whole clinic and Knight shared that these meetings “have allowed us the space and time to really think through what integrated care looks like for us. The combination of practical, hands-on skills as well as planning meetings to look at the big picture has really made this collaboration worthwhile for us.” Natosha and Dr. Mulberry work alongside one another coordinating care for patients with complex and chronic co-morbid conditions as well as co-occurring disorders.

Posted in Success Stories

For years, ADS was primarily known in the Greensboro community as a substance use agency and was previously known using the full words, “Alcohol and Drug Services.” While working alongside COE and Cone Health Foundation (CHF), the ADS board took a formal vote to change the name to “ADS”, dropping the use of the full wording “Alcohol and Drug Services.” This new agency title reflected that the agency expanded its focus to dual-diagnosis treatment and integrated primary care, rather than focusing on only substance use treatment.

The COE has assisted ADS in becoming a more integrated site including enhancing their onsite integrated care services. Specifically, ADS has streamlined their workflows and created a multidisciplinary team meeting from all agency service lines to enhance quality services. Progress was made in streamlining their IT so that both the integrated primary care side would have access to the same information in patient record’s as the co-occurring side of the agency, enhancing coordinated care, as well as making changes to the system to ensure documentation reflects increased use of stage-wise assessment and treatment. The COE facilitated the creation of team meetings which increased coordination of care across the site as well as assisted with the dual-licensing of a clinician in order to increase capacity for patients to be seen.

Posted in Success Stories

Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine (TAPM) was ahead of the curve with integrated care prior to working with the COE, having clinicians in each of their clinics across Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina. However, in the last four years working alongside the COE as part of the Cone Health Foundation Access to Care Collaborative, their whole person care approach has grown immensely. Clinicians who were new to integrated care were trained with the support of the COE while TAPM also revamped their service delivery to include behavioral health care managers allowing all team members to work to the top of their licenses. TAPM clinicians and staff have taken part in COE-facilitated trainings on brief interventions in integrated care, evidence-based treatment of co-morbid conditions and providing services with a cultural humility lens, among others. In obtaining a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) substance use grant, COE worked alongside TAPM in brainstorming how they were best equipped to address opioid use disorder, including discussions on implementation of screeners and assessments as well as billing and workflow support. This federally qualified health center continues to thrive and expand their ability to provide whole-person, team-based care serving the underserved population in the Guilford County area.

Posted in Success Stories

Kellin Foundation has partnered with the Center of Excellence for Integrated Care as part of the Cone Health Foundation Co-Occurring Disorders Collaborative for the last four years. With the COE assisting Kellin in transforming from a mental health only agency to a dual-diagnosis enhanced service delivery, this transition significantly increased the number of individuals in the community they can serve. Lylan Wingfield, clinician and deputy director shared, “[working with the COE] has definitely enhanced our service array that we provide and [we can now provide] folks with more specialized treatment options. For our clients, it is nice to be able to see one therapist that can address both disorders rather than have to go to a group at a substance use agency and then an individual therapist over here.” Wingfield noted the improved convenience and improved outcomes for clients as well.

Kellin has been able to initiate a thriving on-site peer support program for clients, increased their ability to provide stage-wise assessment and treatment for co-occurring disorders, and has built capacity to serve clients regardless of disorder acuity or severity. Clinicians and staff have been able to participate in trainings on providing culturally appropriate services to clients using a cultural humility lens and treatment for opioid use as well as other trainings facilitated by the COE. In addition, clinicians and staff have participated in learning collaboratives about the impact of social determinants of health on their client’s progress and treatment and how to best address these needs. Wingfield shared that, “the trainings and collaborative meetings have been very helpful and the [learning collaboratives] that the COE has facilitated let us have a regular touchpoint with other agencies and resources in the community and connect to work together.”

Posted in Success Stories