Improving Primary Care in Patients With Mental Disorders

Poor quality of care may contribute to impaired health status and increased mortality in individuals with serious mental disorders and substance abuse problems; interventions designed to improve medical care for this population need to be developed. This study will develop a population-based medical case management model for improving the primary medical care of patients at an inner city community mental health center.

This study will last 2 years. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive medical case management or standard of care (typically drug and behavioral therapy) for 2 years. Participants in the case management group will receive help in overcoming barriers to receiving primary care. Participants will also undergo 5 interviews over the 2-year study duration, and have annual chart reviews. Results of the interviews will be used to assess quality of primary care, service use, health outcomes, psychiatric symptoms, and substance use.