Carrots and Sticks on Opposite Sides of the Atlantic: Integration Incentives for People With Serious Mental Illness in England

Integrating care pathways between primary and specialist mental health care is seen as integral to improving the health of people with mental illness. Multiple integration initiatives have been implemented, but few have tried to integrate care for people with serious mental illness. This column describes two such initiatives in the United States and in England. The two schemes are compared according to the population they target, payment mechanisms, accountability structures, service delivery, outcomes, and lessons learned.