Why integrated care already owns the future

Integrated care has certainly arrived in the primary care clinic. Evidence and momentum began building 20 years ago with the demonstrated effectiveness of collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care. Since then, various forms of integrated care have been repeatedly proven effective across a range of care settings, patient populations, languages and cultures. Initial success in the treatment of depression was extended to care of other common mental health and substance use disorders. As a signal of that success, the US Preventive Services Task Force now recommends routine screening for depression in primary care. The previous qualification to limit screening to settings where ‘depression care supports are in place’ is now replaced by a recommendation that ‘screening be implemented with adequate systems in place’. The availability of effective mental health services for primary care patients is now an expectation rather than an aspiration.

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