Patient-Centered Primary Care

Alexander Blount is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University New England and Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is one of the original thought leaders of integrated behavioral health and has published widely on improving the structure of primary care.  At Antioch, he developed the Major Area of Study in Behavioral Health Integration and Population Health.  He has been a leader in developing the behavioral health workforce for integrated primary care, including both clinicians and other team members, in New Hampshire.Dr. Blount comes from a position as Professor of Family Medicine and Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he founded and directed the Center for Integrated Primary Care. Dr. Blount has been practicing, as a clinician, trainer, administrator, author, teacher and consultant for over 40 years. He has been a behavioral health clinician in primary care for almost 20 of those years. He is a member of the National Integration Academy Council guiding the Integration Academy of the Agency for Health Research and Quality. His books include Integrated Primary Care: The Future of Medical and Mental Health Collaboration, published by W. W. Norton. He is Past President of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, a national multidisciplinary organization promoting the inclusion of mental health services in medical settings, and he is past Editor of Families, Systems and Health, the Journal of Collaborative Family Healthcare.Foreword written by Frank DeGruy, MDFrank Verloin deGruy III, M.D., M.S.F.M., is the Woodward-Chisholm Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, a position he has held since 1999.  Dr. deGruy has served as President of the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association and President of the North American Primary Care Research Group. He is on the Board of Directors of the National Network of Depression Centers and the Family Physicians’ Inquiries Network. He chairs the National Integration Academy Council and sits on the board of the Colorado Institute of Family Medicine.  He has been a member of the Institute of Medicine since 2008.

• Getting to Patient-Centered Care.- From a Squad to a Team:  Creating Team-Based Care.- Behavioral Health and Care Enhancement: Building a Team to Do the Whole Job.- Getting from “Delivering Care to Patients” to “Partnership with Patients”.- When the Doctor-Patient Divide is a Chasm.- Bridging the Chasm: The Current State of the Art.- “T” is for Transparent.- “E” is for Empowering.- “A” is for Activating.- “M” is for Mutual.- Growing and Retaining an Expert Team.- Quality Improvement, Data, and Partnership.- Articulating the Model.

“Blount was successful in producing a thorough and frank handbook for patient-centered primary care. Well researched and expertly organized, Patient-Centered Primary Care: Getting From Good to Great is an informative and accessible book ideal for professionals and practices in the beginning phases of transition, as well as a potent resource for anyone who aims to understand and/or articulate a rationale for patient-centered, integrated primary care—one that we as clinicians and faculty will likely return to repeatedly.” (Joseph Tucciarone, Families, Systems, & Health, Vol. 41 (3), 2023)