Integrated care: integrating general medical and behavioral health care: the New York State perspective.

This column describes recent policy and program initiatives implemented by the New York State Office of Mental Health to enhance integration of general medical and behavioral health services throughout the state public mental health system. Recent initiatives were implemented to improve access to health and wellness-oriented services, redesign managed care programs to improve engagement and retention of high-need individuals, and raise the bar on quality while lowering costs. Taken as a whole, these initiatives represent a 21st-century transformation of a state mental health authority into an accountable and more fully integrated public health delivery system.