Until recently, behavioral health was defined within the strict dichotomy of inpatient and outpatient care -- a dichotomy that failed to mirror the range and complexity of human experience and clinical needs.

Today's integrated system renders this dichotomy obsolete. Instead, service delivery integration processes offer an organized system of care rooted in a common vision and defined by processes intended to promote continuity and quality of care, coordination of efforts, efficiencies of operation, and seamless patient movement through an otherwise bewildering array of health care...