Name
Beyond Access: Inherited Diagnoses - When Behavioral Health Labels Outlive the Evidence
Description

Integrated behavioral health models have transformed primary care, but have we carried forward a generalist diagnostic culture into contexts where greater diagnostic specificity better serves patients and systems alike? This session presents a novel behavioral health clinician-led pre-visit diagnostic review workflow designed to interrupt diagnostic momentum, support primary care providers in refining behavioral health diagnoses, and examine what becomes possible, clinically and financially, when diagnostic precision is treated as a team priority. Attendees will engage with QI outcome data on diagnosis acceptance rates and risk adjustment factor lift, and explore a replicable process through a spirit of curiosity and openness.

Speakers
Jennifer Hubbard, LCSW
Stephen Warnick, Jr, MD
Content Level
All Audience
Tags
Financing and Operational Sustainability, Innovations, Team-based care
Session Type
Concurrent
Objective 1
Identify mechanisms through which inaccurate behavioral health diagnoses become embedded in primary care records, including diagnostic momentum and primary care training gaps.
Objective 2
Describe the clinical and system-level consequences of diagnostic inaccuracy for patients with complex behavioral health conditions in value-based care settings.
Objective 3
Discuss the structural components of a BHC-led pre-visit diagnostic review model and evaluate opportunities to apply diagnostic specificity practices within their own integrated care setting.
Content Reference 1

Bradford, A., Meyer, A. N. D., Khan, S., Giardina, T. D., & Singh, H. (2024). Diagnostic error in mental health: a review. BMJ quality & safety, 33(10), 663–672. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2023-016996

Content Reference 2

Caspi, A., Houts, R. M., Moffitt, T. E., Richmond-Rakerd, L. S., Hanna, M. R., Sunde, H. F., & Torvik, F. A. (2024). A nationwide analysis of 350 million patient encounters reveals a high volume of mental-health conditions in primary care. Nature. Mental health, 2(10), 1208–1216. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00310-5

Content Reference 3

Buchanan, G.J.R., et al. (2022). Integrated Behavioral Health Implementation Patterns in Primary Care Using the Cross-Model Framework: A Latent Class Analysis. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 49(2), 312–325. doi: 10.1007/s10488-021-01165-z. PMC8854330.

Content Reference 4

Fountoulakis, K. N., Fountoulakis, N. K., & Antoniadis, D. (2025). Challenges in the development of treatment guidelines for bipolar disorder. Frontiers in psychiatry, 16, 1564004. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1564004

Content Reference 5

Slawomirski, L. et al. (2025), “The economics of diagnostic safety”, OECD Health Working Papers, No. 176, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/fc61057a-en.