The Iowa Integrated Health Home (IHH) initiative was launched on July 1, 2013 as a partnership between the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) and Magellan Behavioral Care of Iowa, a private health management company that has managed the Iowa Plan for Behavioral Health (Iowa Plan) since 1995. The purpose of an IHH is to provide whole-person, patient-centered, coordinated care for adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) and children with a serious emotional disturbance (SED). The IHH represents an adaptation of the evidence based practices of the health home model to incorporate a focus on behavioral care for individuals with serious psychological conditions.
Structured telephone interviews were conducted with 319 adults and 314 parent/legal guardians of children who were enrolled in the IHH. Interviews were administered during the period from October 23-December 17, 2014. The experiences of the majority of participants represents their first months in the IHH program. IHH member experiences will be re-evaluated in a year to determine if changes have occurred with longer experience in the program.