Financing IBH Made Practical: Explore AHRQ’s New Interactive Toolkit

AHRQ’s Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care has launched a new interactive Toolkit designed to help primary care practices finance and sustain integrated behavioral health (IBH) services. Built for health care leaders, frontline providers, and practice staff, the toolkit offers practical guidance for moving beyond fee-for-service reimbursement by leveraging braided financing strategies, to include alternative payment models, grants, philanthropy, graduate medical education funding, and internal cross-subsidization.

Designed to move beyond theory, the Toolkit includes hands-on planning resources—users can explore a case example following a fictional FQHC as it develops a sustainable IBH financing strategy, as well as a customizable pro forma calculator that helps teams estimate start-up and implementation costs, potential savings and revenue, and build a business case. Flexible and modular, the toolkit allows users to jump to the sections most relevant to their setting, payer mix, and patient population, making it useful whether you are just starting out or working to strengthen an existing IBH program.

By connecting IBH’s clinical value to the cultural, operational, and financial conditions needed for sustainability, the Toolkit helps teams view IBH not just as a service model, but as a strategic investment in whole-person care.

Want to learn more about the IBH Financing Toolkit? Join us for our webinar on June 10, 1-2:30pm ET. More information and the link to register are provided below.

Check out what attendees at an early unveiling of the IBH Financing Toolkit had to say…

“This Toolkit is amazing; I am looking forward to being able to utilize it.”
“This Toolkit is going to be a game changer! We're an FQHC and a Public Health Department in Appalachia and are needing some guidance on IBH financial sustainability.”
“This [Toolkit] is such a game changer - gets to the core of the biggest barrier to integration across states and organizations. Thanks for your work and for sharing the tool with us!”

Access the IBH Financing Toolkit

From Coding to Braiding: Strategies for Financing and Sustaining Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care Settings

Financing remains one of the biggest barriers to integrating behavioral health and primary care, but there are strategies that can help. Join the AHRQ Academy for Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care on Wednesday, June 10, from 1:00–2:30pm ET for a webinar on financing and sustaining integrated behavioral health (IBH) in primary care settings. The session will provide an inside look at the new Integrated Behavioral Health Financing Toolkit and explore practical approaches to building sustainable IBH funding models across primary care, health systems, safety net settings, and rural communities. Attendees will learn how practices can move beyond fee-for-service reimbursement by leveraging braided financing strategies, to include alternative payment models, grants, philanthropy, graduate medical education funding, and internal cross-subsidization. The webinar will also feature a case example of a rural health clinic using the IBH Financing Toolkit to add a behavioral health consultant to address opioid use disorder and suicide risk. This exercise will illustrate how organizations can combine revenue streams, optimize coding and billing, strengthen EHR capabilities, and build community partnerships to support IBH implementation and long-term sustainability.

Register Here

Upcoming Events

Stay informed about upcoming trainings, webinars and other events related to behavioral health integration by visiting our Training and Events Calendar.

Access the Full Calendar

AHRQ Integration Academy

5600 Fishers Ln

Rockville, MD 20852-1750

Website: integrationacademy.ahrq.gov

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