Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Integrated Healthcare

Mounting evidence from observational studies and randomized trials has led to the VA's adoption of the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) programs as a standard practice at the VA.(1,2) The goals of PC-MHI are: (1) to improve veterans' access to mental health services; (2) more effectively triage referrals to specialty mental health care; and (3) to promote a high-quality, collaborative, and coordinated approach to holistic veteran-centered primary care.(1-3) The PC-MHI programs are an essential part of the continuum of mental health services for veterans and support the care of all veterans in primary care (Figure).(4)