The paper describes interactions between primary care physicians (PCP's) and mental health clinicians (MHC's) in a "team collaborative model." A study of the interactions showed there were about two consultations a day with PCP's for each MHC, that they were largely unscheduled, took place mostly in PCP or MHC offices or in corridors, and increased in frequency over a two-year period. Role definition was a continuing process; PCP's and MHC's each learned through repeated discussions what to expect from the other in patient care. It is found that a model with close working arrangements between PCP's and MHC's is of therapeutic value for that large population of emotionally disturbed patients seen often by PCP's much less often by MHC's.

No abstract