Linking Primary Care and Rural Psychiatry: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?

Linking primary care with psychiatric care has long been promoted as a way to improve access to rural mental health services. The authors describe a national survey that identified 53 successfully linked programs, ranging from small local efforts to sophisticated multicounty networks. Findings indicated that lessons from successful integrations are not easily reduced to a how-to list. Organizations cooperate with each other when it is in their interests to do so. Motivation to integrate cannot be mandated, nor is the availability of funding alone sufficient to provide motivation. The authors discuss ways that managed care may facilitate or hinder the link between rural primary care and rural psychiatry.