• The BHAL is a service of Cook County Health that provides telephone triage and referral services for CountyCare members, Cook County Health patients and others in need of behavioral health assessment and treatment.

• A single point of contact offering telephonic brief mental health assessments leading to referrals to mental health and substance use treatment, case management and care coordination.

• Linkage to the Behavioral Health Consortium of Illinois, a network of providers throughout Cook County who are available to provide a diverse array of Behavioral Health services.

• Services offered include:
  • Mental health assessments
  • Substance use assessments
  • Medication monitoring and management
  • Medication substance use disorder treatment
  • Case management
  • Medical and non-medical detoxification services
  • Residential rehabilitation programs
  • Intensive, family, individual, group counseling and treatment
  • Intensive outpatient & partial hospitalization programs
  • Assertive community treatment (ACT) and community support teams (CST)
  • Inpatient care

The BHAL referral website is custom built by the staff of the Collaborative Research Unit with the goal of increasing the speed, efficiency and accuracy of BHAL referrals to multiple behavioral health sites offering multiple behavioral health services.

Callers to the BHAL (844-433-8793) are connected to experienced Licensed Clinical Social Workers who combine their clinical skills and the efficiency of the website to quickly find treatment options for them. Members are sent reminders via secure text / email enhancing positive outcomes and adherence to treatment.

Behavioral Health Consortium connects patients with coordinated health care services based on their individual needs. The consortium serves as single point of 24/7/356 access to reach a large number of providers with specific expertise in mental health care and substance abuse treatment.

Each call to the consortium will be triaged and appropriately referred to one of the community-based mental health or substance abuse providers. This strategy has the potential to transform the delivery of behavioral health services. Nowhere else in the country are behavioral health providers teaming up to address this national epidemic and caring for patients in this collaborative way. more...