AIMS program

UW AIMS Center Site Map

UW AIMS Center Site Map

The AIMS program, known more locally as IBH (Integrative Behavioral Health) is a triangular cooperative between a therapist, the primary care provider, and a psychiatric consultant. It is a program focused on advancing the implementation of the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) in behavioral health care settings. A program founded by Jurgen Unutzer. One of the goals is to remove mental health care from its siloed isolation and make this specialty care more available to general practice.

In this model, the primary care physician may request assistance in treating a patient with a mental illness.  Commonly treated diagnoses include: Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD. The referral will be screened and sent to a therapist who will schedule with the patient and begin care, including an intake assessment. The therapist will present the patient to the psychiatric consultant, who doesn't typically have direct contact with the patient.

This structure also brings a population-based care component as well as measurement-based treatment. Evidence-based treatments are provided in a team setting.

This effectively enhances the quality of care for diagnoses that primary care doctors would already manage by incorporating the therapy component and the consultant's additional assistance. Evidence for its effectiveness was demonstrated in the 2002 IMPACT trial, showing improved effectiveness in care of the status quo. This model is now in place in over 1000 clinics.

1.    Unützer, J., Katon, W., Callahan, C. M., Williams, J. W. Jr., Hunkeler, E., Harpole, L., Hoffing, M., Della Penna, R. D., Noël, P. H., Lin, E. H. B., Areán, P. A., Hegel, M. T., Tang, L., Belin, T. R., Oishi, S., & Langston, C. (2002). Collaborative care management of late-life depression in the primary care setting: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(22), 2836–2845. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.22.2836

“Collaborative care management of late-life depression in the primary care setting: a randomized trial.” JAMA. This was part of the IMPACT trial. 

2.    Fortney, J. C., Pyne, J. M., Edlund, M. J., Mittal, D., Hudson, T. J., Robinson, D. E., Heintzman, J. R., MacKenzie, T. D., & Unützer, J. (2020). Implementation outcomes of evidence-based collaborative care models for depression: Evaluation of a national dissemination program. Psychiatric Services, 71(2), 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900166

“A peer-reviewed paper published in 2020 showed clinics receiving our specialized implementation support had better patient-level clinical outcomes than clinics that did not.”