Nearly every major policy statement on mental health in the last decade, ranging from the Surgeon General?s Report to the President?s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, has begun with the tenet that mental health is central to overall health and more recent reports have added a corollary-physical health is central to mental health.

Improving the treatment of mental and substance use disorders in primary care settings and improving the medical care of people with serious mental health (MH) and substance use (SU) disorders served in behavioral health (BH) settings has been a growing area of focus over the last decade. The goal of achieving quality of services and outcomes on both sides of the primary care/behavioral health interface is gaining long overdue attention and emphasis. This paper seeks to review the history, structure, and current developments of care at the primary care/behavioral health interface. It focuses on care in the public sector, wh » Read more: Improving the Treatment of Mental and Substance Use Disorders in Primary Care Settings