Table 2.

Themes that describe opportunities as a result of implementation of collaborative care model

Theme	Example quotation
Team approach to care	‘‘My impression was that the patient care should be done by both the primary care and the mental health     providers… as a true collaboration with the mental health provider and the primary care provider working hand-     in-hand.’’ [SW]
Care management and     coordination of care	“Having the care manager coordinate mental health patients and implementing the screening on all our patients     have been two biggest things that I′ve noticed that have helped improve our processes, and improve the flow of     patients as well as hopefully the outcomes of patients.’’ [ADM]
Improved screening	“The screening tools have been helpful… in trying to get people to see how what’s been going on with them is     affecting different areas of their lives.” [CM]
Improved access to care	“Coming from a culture where mental health is almost like a taboo subject…we made it a little bit more acceptable     to come in and request to see a social worker, or request that you would like to talk to someone about what’s     going on.” [ADM-2]
Improved between visit follow-up	“Being able to discuss the patient′s care with the care manager, informally, in between visits…because a lot of times     they get different sides of the story.” [PCP]
Improved communication between   providers	“Helps to lessen the hierarchical kind of structure that often occurs in a primary care clinic between mental health     people and the primary care physicians.” [SW-2]
Improved focus on mental health   issues	“The training has personally helped me grow in my knowledge of mental health issues. And therefore has helped     me to get our program in a better shape than what it was before. And then by doing that, it’s just helped the     patients in the long run too.” [ADM]
	“I tend to use anti-depressants a lot more because the conversation comes up. I tend to refer a lot more for     cognitive therapy than I ever did before. And also I’m always going to be following up relatively quickly.” [PCP-2]

ADM= administrator; CM= care manager; PCP= primary care provider; SW= social worker