Disrupting the System: An Innovative Model of Comprehensive Care

Despite health care reform, our nation continues to struggle containing health care costs while meeting the needs of persons with behavioral health disorders and comorbid chronic care conditions. The purpose of this article is to propose that dually certified primary care and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners may be the disruptive innovation that becomes the solution for improving the coordination and care for high-need patients while containing costs. The concepts of disruptive innovation, integrated care, and whole person care are discussed followed by an introduction to the innovative primary care and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner’s role and its potential for health care system disruption. Finally, a call to nursing is proffered to seize current opportunities to meet the Triple Aim challenge by providing whole person care that is high-quality, cost-effective, and satisfactory to patients because it is truly patient centered and meets their needs. •High-need patients account for 50% of health care expenditures.•High-need patients often have co-occurring chronic care and mental health needs.•Nurse practitioners (NPs) increasingly seek dual certification to meet patients’ whole health needs.•NP whole health care is a disruptive innovation to meet patient and system needs.•Whole person care is the goal of the disruptive innovation.