Kate Cousineau, PA works in private family practice where she is part of a behavioral health team providing comprehensive behavioral health services to internal clinic patients. Patients are self identified or identified by their primary care providers as needing more intense psychiatric services than they can provide. Ms. Cousineau works with therapists and social workers, as well as local community resources, to provide integrated care to a rural community in the Gorge.
Ms. Cousineau’s interest in collaborative care started when she was a child welfare social worker. It was apparent to her that the behavioral health system, primary care system, and drug and alcohol system were separate spokes trying to accomplish similar goals; however, due to their lack of communication and disjointed relationship, patients’ care suffered.
Patients went to jail or became acutely ill because there was no comprehensive clinic for patients to receive care, and they were often lost to follow-up in the confusion. Patients also had a hard time developing relationships with so many providers and became frustrated with frequent appointments and differing opinions. She sadly saw patients die on waiting lists for Medication Assisted Treatment when they were active patients at a local behavioral health or primary care clinic. This led her to believe in the power of good primary care, and to want to create a model that was supportive to primary care providers and sustainable for patients.
Participation in this program will help Ms. Cousineau solidify a model of care within her clinic and community that will be helpful for her primary care colleagues, financially sustainable, and easy for patients to access. She hopes that patients isolated by the mountains in the Gorge will have access to a level of quality that they could enjoy in a progressive urban area.
Ms. Cousineau hopes that integrative care will be the standard of care in 5 years, practiced by all primary care for the benefit of all patients. Her goal is for all patients to be able to access care in a timely manner, and for no patient to ever die on a waiting list again.