Families, Systems, & Health, Vol 43(3), Sep 2025, 413-415; doi:10.1037/fsh0001029
The Milbank query assumes that there is evidence that integrated behavioral health works and saves money (Nguyen et al., 2025). If so, we need to define the statement more clearly. The core question has been asked for quite a while. Miller and Kessler asked 20 years ago: “What behavioral health intervention in primary care delivered by what type of organization, personnel, and duration, generates what outcomes, clinically and financially, for which patients?” (Miller et al., 2011). Since that time, there have been multiple innovators and practices who have moved the field ahead. We suggest that while these early adopters have made great progress, the field has not generally progressed to the point where the elements of the question have been satisfactorily adopted or answered, and, as Butler et al. (2008) suggested almost 20 years ago, orthodoxy about the utility of behavioral health integration was premature. We maintain that this was true then, and much of it remains true now. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)