DeKalb Community Service Board (DCSB) - DeKalb Community Service Board (DCSB) provides behavioral health and developmental disabilities services to residents of metropolitan Atlanta/DeKalb County, Georgia. In May 2011DCSB successfully partnered with Oakhurst Medical Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center, to integrate primary and mental health care at DCSB's Winn Way location. With this application, DCSB will expand services and increase capacity to meet an increasing demand. For this project, DeKalb DCSB will utilize the Primary Care, Access, Referral, and Evaluation (PCARE) practice developed by Dr. Benjamin G. Druss, M.D, M.P.H, and his associates at Emory University in Atlanta. The PCARE Evidence-based Practice (EBP) was developed specifically for use in integration of primary care into a mental health setting. PCARE utilizes an enhanced system of care coordination to effect positive change in the mental and physical health of patients. As part of a primary care provider team, PCARE includes a Care Navigator and a Peer Navigator. Project Goals and Measurable Objectives: The project has the following goals: 1) improve health status and quality of life for patients, 2) enhance consumer experience of care, and 3) reduce the per patient cost of care for clients. The project will set measurable objectives in outcomes for patients, such as reduces ER visits; for family members, such as improved satisfaction; for staff, such as improved efficiency; and for the organization, such as decreased duplication. The project will serve 325 patients in Year 1, 375 patients in Year 2, 475 patients in Year 3, and 600 patients in Year 4.
