Director of Behavorial Health Integration

The Director of Behavioral Health Integration is responsible for advancing the integration of behavioral health services within Friend Health’s Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and HRDI’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) programs. Reporting directly to the Chief Medical Officer with a dotted-line relationship to the AVP of Behavioral Health, this position serves as a clinical and operational leader supporting integrated, patient-centered care. This position partners with medical providers, behavioral health clinicians, nursing, care management, and operations to improve patient outcomes through behavioral health integration, care gap closure initiatives, population health strategies, interdisciplinary daily huddles, and collaborative care planning. This role also provides direct clinical support to patients, mentorship to behavioral health staff, and leadership in implementing evidence-based integrated care practices., To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required:

Behavioral Health Integration

• Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of integrated behavioral health services across Friend Health and HRDI.
• Partner with primary care and behavioral health leadership to develop standardized integrated care workflows.
• Support providers in identifying behavioral health needs and implementing timely interventions.
• Promote collaborative care between medical, behavioral health, nursing, pharmacy, care coordination, and community health teams.
• Assist with implementation of Collaborative Care and other evidence-based behavioral health integration models.

Clinical Leadership

• Provide behavioral health consultation to primary care providers.
• Support behavioral health clinicians through coaching, mentoring, case consultation, and professional development.
• Participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning.
• Assist with complex patient cases requiring coordination between medical and behavioral health services.
• Promote trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and patient-centered care.

Care Gap Closure & Population Health

• Lead behavioral health strategies supporting quality measures and care gap closure initiatives.
• Monitor behavioral health-related quality indicators and patient outcomes.
• Collaborate with Quality Improvement, Population Health, and Care Management teams to improve preventive care and chronic disease management.
• Utilize data to identify opportunities for intervention and improved patient engagement.

Daily Integrated Huddles

• Develop and facilitate behavioral health participation in daily clinic huddles.
• Assist teams in identifying patients requiring behavioral health intervention prior to appointments.
• Improve communication between medical and behavioral health staff regarding high-risk patients.
• Support workflow improvements that enhance patient access and continuity of care.

Patient Care

• Provide direct behavioral health services within scope of licensure as needed.
• Conduct behavioral health screenings, assessments, brief interventions, and referrals.
• Coordinate follow-up services and community resources.
• Support crisis intervention and behavioral health consultation when appropriate.

Staff Development

• Train medical and behavioral health staff on integrated care best practices.
• Provide education on behavioral health screening tools, documentation, collaborative care, and patient engagement.
• Foster teamwork between Friend Health and HRDI clinical staff.

Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with HRSA, CCBHC, Joint Commission, Illinois Department of Public Health, Medicaid, Medicare, and payer requirements.
• Support behavioral health documentation standards and quality audits.
• Assist with accreditation activities and grant reporting.

Quality Improvement

• Participate in Quality Improvement committees.
• Develop and monitor performance metrics related to behavioral health integration.
• Recommend process improvements that increase patient access, quality, and efficiency.
• Participate in strategic planning for integrated behavioral health services.
• Other duties as assigned., Goal 2: Provide ongoing coaching, education, and clinical consultation to behavioral health staff while fostering collaboration with primary care providers. Conduct regular case reviews, staff education sessions, and interdisciplinary meetings, achieving 100% participation in monthly behavioral health integration meetings and maintaining employee engagement and compliance with clinical documentation, regulatory, and quality standards.

• Master’s Degree in Social Work, Counseling, Psychology, Marriage and Family Therapy, Nursing, or related behavioral health discipline required., * Current Illinois independent clinical license preferred (LCSW, LCPC, LMFT, PsyD, PhD, PMHNP, or equivalent)., * Minimum five (5) years of behavioral health clinical experience.
• Minimum three (3) years of leadership or supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated experience with behavioral health integration within primary care.
• Experience leading care gap closure initiatives, quality improvement, and population health activities.
• Experience participating in interdisciplinary daily huddles and collaborative care teams.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong knowledge of integrated behavioral health models.
• Knowledge of value-based care and quality metrics.
• Excellent leadership and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to influence interdisciplinary teams.
• Strong communication and presentation abilities.
• Experience utilizing Electronic Health Records (Epic preferred).
• Ability to analyze quality data and implement performance improvement initiatives.
• Commitment to culturally responsive care.

SMART GOALS (OUTCOMES)

Goal 1: Partner with the Quality, Care Management, and Primary Care teams to support behavioral health-related quality measures and care gap closure initiatives. By year-end, contribute to a 10% improvement in targeted behavioral health and preventive care quality metrics, including depression screening, follow-up after positive screening, and other organizational population health goals., The physical demands described are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds.

(The unavoidable, externally imposed conditions under which the work must be performed, and which create hardship for the incumbent including the frequency and duration of occurrence of physical demands, environmental conditions, demands on one’s senses, and mental demands.) None known.