Liz Davis, M.A., LPC

PHP Fusion … a medical tempo that makes sense!

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by Liz in Marketing

Continuity of Care is much more than simply plugging the patient into discharge aftercare.  Its PHP’s stepping into an interdisciplinary alliance at intake and relating to the various healthcare professionals involved with our patient’s care.  

Each healthcare domain (i.e., primary care, specialty care, and mental health) has its own unique culture and working style.  While all are committed, focused, and aim for stellar quality service, historically, the mental health field is known for its lack of permeability.  The traditional nature of therapeutic services is reclusive.  Public and private attitudes toward needing mental health services have contributed to this, but these too are changing.  We are beginning to see a willingness for disclosure and discourse that will allow for easier integration of services. 

Partial Hospital Programs again are leading in this area.  As a bridge between hospital and community, PHPs emerge as a point of total integration.  Here’s how:

• PHP views behavioral health as inseparable from medical health. (Reference Dr. Robert Sapolsky’s work on stress and disease and PHP’s focus on disease management.)
• PHP invites the patient to integrate care by allowing for communication between established parallel services if they exist (i.e., referring therapist to PHP therapist, and primary care and specialty care physicians with PHP psychiatrist).
• PHP invites the patient to integrate services rendered with new parallel services (i.e. new aftercare providers).
• PHP invites the patient to integrate and extend care by allowing for communication between treatment team and patient’s interpersonal system (i.e., the STEPPS Program  )

Computer network science has been ahead in this game by allowing for the digital sharing of data across interdisciplinary groups.  Healthcare’s complexities and lack of integration have limited our ability to capitalize on a digital platform.  In the future, PHPs will partner with groups like GE’s Healthcare Imagination Group and Dell’s Healthcare IT to revolutionize patient care, mental health culture and working style.

The PHP of tomorrow will be a unique blend of cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural treatment where efficiency and effectiveness will reach new levels.  I like the sound of that!