As the front door of the health care system, primary care is well-positioned to provide a pathway to mental and behavioral health care. In one study from 2016-2018, nearly 4 out of 10 visits for depression or anxiety and any mental illness were to primary care physicians. Primary care physicians also treated about a third of patients with severe mental illness.
Increasing resources for primary care can enable practices to build and sustain the teams that deliver whole-person, interdisciplinary care, empowering patients and their clinician partners to manage all aspects of health more effectively. This approach is also critical given the shortages of behavioral health professionals.
Nearly 1-in-5 Americans experience a mental health condition.
