Alaska map

Alaska Primary Care Association & Alaska Behavioral Health Association

The Alaska team's joint project strengthened the relationship between the APCA and ABHA and commitment to sustain collaboration among primary care and behavioral health. The team advanced patient-centered telehealth in Alaska by convening an advisory committee and identifying opportunities to provide education to legislators on issues that inhibit or support integrated behavioral health and telehealth. This project aimed to build equitable access to telehealth through inclusive and trust-building methods of soliciting confidential and structured input by stakeholders who have been historically excluded from these types of processes. 

The Alaska team also developed the Behavioral Health Investment for Resilient Community Health (BIRCH) Initiative. This initiative focuses on joint advocacy activities that APCA and ABHA, as well as other partners, continue to carry forward. 

Successes: 

  • Identified common goals around workforce and the state budget. Priority topics included Medicaid reimbursement, school-based Medicaid reimbursement, and specific funding for community mental health activities.
  • Advocated for permanent removal of service authorizations for behavioral health care, decreasing the administrative burden on providers and allowing them to dedicate more time to patient care.
  • Educated policymakers about a complete policy agenda related to workforce, childcare, and Medicaid payment to support improved access to behavioral health services and sharing best practices across community health workers, peer support specialists, and tribal health aides.

Funded Organizations

The Alaska Primary Care Association (APCA) is a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) training & technical assistance organization with a membership that includes 29 community health centers and two Look-Alike health centers. Training & technical assistance (TA) services are provided through three programmatic departments: T/TA, Workforce Development, and Health Policy.

The Alaska Behavioral Health Association (ABHA) is the trade organization representing behavioral health providers in the State of Alaska. The Association was formed in 1996 to help improve the delivery of substance abuse and mental health treatment services in Alaska. ABHA is comprised of leadership from over 80 community mental health and substance abuse treatment providers across the state.