Interprofessional Team-Based Primary Care Practice and Healthcare Utilization for Mental Health and Substance Use
Abstract
Interprofessional team-based primary care practices like Family Health Teams (FHTs) can improve access to care, but their effect on mental health (MH) service utilization is unclear — particularly following the introduction of virtual care billing codes in Ontario. The objectives of this thesis were to: (1) review the literature on the association between team-based care and healthcare utilization among people with MH disorders, and (2) assess the impacts of virtual service codes and team-based care on MH service utilization. The review found that team-based care is likely associated with decreases in all-cause hospitalizations and ED visits among people with MH disorders. Implementation of virtual care was associated with increases in virtual MH services in FHTs and in non-FHTs; however, the impact was greater in FHTs which may indicate that they adapted more rapidly to the use of virtual care.