Amy Lee, MPH, contributes to a wide range of research focused on improving whole-person care, from prevention to treatment for common mental health and substance use conditions. Her main goals include reducing stigma related to care for unhealthy alcohol and other substance use, and improving patients’ receipt of high-quality treatment and support for these conditions in primary care. Her other areas of interest include health equity, social justice, and social determinants of health.
Working with senior investigator Katharine Bradley, MD, MPH, Ms. Lee has played a lead role in Kaiser Permanente Washington’s Behavioral Health Integration (BHI) initiative. As the primary BHI practice coach, she trained and supported clinical teams in implementing a standard process for screening primary care patients for alcohol and other substance use as well as depression; providing brief counseling for patients with unhealthy alcohol use; and engaging patients in shared decision making and treatment for alcohol and other substance use disorders, depression, and suicidal ideation. Currently, Ms. Lee is working with Dr. Bradley and colleagues to develop a decision aid for people with alcohol use disorders. She is also leading the implementation monitoring team on a nationwide study in six health systems to test the implementation of a collaborative care model for treating opioid use disorders in primary care.
Ms. Lee’s other recent and ongoing projects include:
Ms. Lee received her master’s degree from the University of Washington’s Community Oriented Public Health Practice program in 2012, after which she joined Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) as a clinical research specialist. She became a research interventionist in 2015 and was promoted to research associate in 2016. Ms. Lee is a steering committee member of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Equity and Access Team, also called HEAT, and is a member of the KPWHRI Equity Team.
Alcohol and drug screening; brief alcohol interventions
Implementation research; quality measurement
From Health Care to Health: A Summit to Address Community and Social Factors—supporting work with three groups that came out of the Summit (Community-centered Design, Behavioral Health and NEAR Science, Undoing Institutional and Structural Racism); Community Resource Specialist Role: Implementation and Evaluation
Primary care management of unhealthy alcohol use; primary care management of alcohol, opioid, and other substance use disorders
Screening and brief intervention; mental health quality measurement; behavioral health integration
Unhealthy alcohol and drug use
Prevention and treatment
Williams EC, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Ludman EJ, Richards JE, Hawkins EJ, Merrill JO, Saxon AJ, Lapham GT, Matson TE, Caldeiro R, Greenberg DM, Kivlahan DR, Bradley KA. Effect of a care management intervention on 12-month drinking outcomes among patients with and without DSM-IV alcohol dependence at baseline. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Aug 20. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05261-7. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Richards JE, Hohl SD, Whiteside U, Ludman EJ, Grossman DC, Simon GE, Shortreed SM, Lee AK, Parrish R, Shea M, Caldeiro RM, Penfold RB, Williams EC. If you listen, i will talk: the experience of being asked about suicidality during routine primary care. J Gen Intern Med. 2019 Jul 25. pii: 10.1007/s11606-019-05136-x. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05136-x [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Richards JE, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Lapham GT, Williams EC, Glass JE, Ludman EJ, Achtmeyer C, Caldeiro RM, Oliver M, Bradley KA. Integration of screening, assessment, and treatment for cannabis and other drug use disorders in primary care: an evaluation in three pilot sites. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019 Jun 8;201:134-141. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.04.015. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Glass JE, Bobb JF, Lee AK, Richards JE, Lapham GT, Ludman E, Achtmeyer C, Caldeiro RM, Parrish R, Williams EC, Lozano P, Bradley KA. Study protocol: a cluster-randomized trial implementing Sustained Patient-centered Alcohol-related Care (SPARC trial). Implement Sci. 2018;13(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13012-018-0795-9. PubMed
Lapham GT, Lee AK, Caldeiro RM, Glass JE, Carrell DS, Richards JE, Bradley KA. Prevalence of behavioral health conditions across frequency of cannabis use among adult primary care patients in Washington state. J Gen Intern Med. 2018 Jul 10. pii: 10.1007/s11606-018-4558-8. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4558-8. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Sharing CHOICE trial results, KPWHRI takes next steps to advance research on alcohol-related care at Kaiser Permanente Washington and beyond.
Clinicians and staff at Tacoma South describe the many ways Behavioral Health Integration is making a difference for patients
Opioid misuse and overdose are now a national priority. For decades, KPWHRI has worked to help patients find safe, effective ways to manage chronic pain.
Learn more about our work in opioid research.