Supporting Psychosis Research, Implementation, and Training Through an Academic Intermediary-Purveyor Organization

Intermediary-purveyor organizations (IPOs) are a type of dissemination support system that are intended to enhance the adoption and sustainment of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) by deploying empirically supported strategies to remediate implementation challenges. Despite the recent proliferation of government-funded IPOs for other psychiatric populations, IPOs that can redress the substantial science-to-practice gap among clients who experience psychotic disorders are not well documented. This article provides an overview of an IPO in an R1 academic medical center whose mission is to enhance access to evidence-based interventions for individuals who have or are at risk for a psychotic disorder. The article spotlights the functions of an IPO and illustrates these functions with a use case, cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis. We highlight IPO-led activities related to cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis purveyance, professional development, quality improvement, public awareness education and training, research and evaluation, as well as program and policy development. Finally, we address the advantages and disadvantages of establishing IPOs of this nature in academic medical centers, the importance of academic-community partnerships in advancing EST implementation, and present considerations for replication. Impact Statement The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently called for the proliferation of intermediary-purveyor organizations (IPOs) to build workforce capacity and provide longitudinal support for empirically supported treatments for serious mental illness (SMI). This article describes one such IPO and illustrates how each of the core IPO functions is applied to support research, delivery, and program and policy development for cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis. We offer recommendations for the adoption of the IPO model to support the SMI-serving behavioral workforce.