NORWICH - Although the balance of power in Congress has shifted, a Democratic-led effort to reform the nation’s behavioral health system may find common ground in Washington, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said Friday.

“We have been dancing around a comprehensive conversation in the U.S. Congress about the mental health system for a number of years, and I am convinced as we try to find a handful of issues we can work together on, this may be on the short list,” Connecticut’s junior senator said during a roundtable discussion with providers at United Community and Family Services.

It capped off a day of events for Murphy in Eastern Connecticut. Earlier Friday, he joined fellow U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in Danielson to discuss President Barack Obama’s proposal that the first two years of community college should be free for qualified students.

Murphy plans to introduce a mental health bill this he spring to complement House Resolution 3717, raised in December 2013 by U.S. Tim Murphy, R-Penn.

But first, he’s traveling around the state on a fact-finding mission, meeting with industry experts about what type of changes are most needed.

Friday’s takeaway? Coordination of resources between primary care physicians and mental health professionals, more equitable insurance payouts to service providers and reduction in the amount of time it takes to meet with doctors for consultations and other appointments.

“The more we can make them become one and the same, the better we’ll be able to provide integrated care,” said James O’Dea, a clinical psychologist and regional director of Hartford HealthCare’s behavioral health network. “From our perspective, clearly good mental health care is absolutely foundational to overall health. If we can really target those issues early on, we will be successful in bending the cost curve.”

Murphy said UCFS was a good venue for Friday’s meeting, since the nonprofit has earned a reputation for “building up” mental health services alongside its primary care.

But even with a strategy in place to confront both, doing so can remain difficult under the strain of federal privacy guidelines and other regulations, officials said.

“You can't have the health outcomes you hope for for the clients in your area if you don't address all the issues. It takes a lot of time to coordinate across multiple agencies, even when you have a great sandbox like we do in this area,” said Nancy Cowser, UCFS vice president of planning.

Murphy’s mental health roundtables are part of what he called a “deep dive” into the issue as he prepares to offer legislation.

“What I’ve heard loud and clear from these panels is we’ve got to provide more resources, but also improve integration of services,” Murphy said.

Reliance House CEO David Burnett said synchronized care is “foundational” to a wide scale reform of the system.

“Mental health and mental well being is fundamental to well being and is perhaps the primary building block of good health,” he said. “As we merge primary care and behavioral health care, we’ve got to get mental illness out of the closet.”