- Behavioral health needs are outpacing the healthcare industry's ability to deliver behavioral health services. COVID-19 spotlighted this trend, though it existed well before COVID-19.
- Now, groups outside and within the healthcare industry are coming to the table with solutions for addressing behavioral health needs.
How different healthcare groups are addressing behavioral health needs
The government
- The government is properly incentivized to address behavioral health needs since Medicaid is the largest payor for mental health services in the U.S.
- This backing makes sense considering those eligible for Medicaid are more likely to have mental health conditions that lead to chronic co-morbidities.
- Local governments are also taking action. For example, the Reno Nevada City Counsel allocates its CARES Act funding on contract with Talkspace, available to Reno residents 13+ years of age.
Private payors
- Private health insurance typically covers acute services but rarely long-term or proactive behavioral health services.
- Data shows people are 5x more likely to go out of network for behavioral healthcare than for physical healthcare. Even so, reimbursement rates for covered behavioral health services are significantly less than physical healthcare reimbursements.
- Payors are verticalizing through partnerships and consolidation to accommodate mental health needs. For example, Ginger, Talkspace, and other high-profile behavioral health management apps are covered by payor giants like Cigna and Humana.
Digital health leaning into B2B and B2C models
- Digital health companies are adopting various models to "crack the code" for improving public mental health.
- In 2020, many tech vendors leaned into behavioral health, many of whom expanded their B2B lines, selling to employers and payors. Ginger eliminated its direct-to-consumer line altogether.
Hospitals – Clinician support, patient support
- The Biden Administration's crackdown on health system and hospital consolidation limits health systems' ability to offer integrated behavioral health services.
- Despite this obstacle, health systems must find different ways to address behavioral health to remain a trusted "whole health" partner. This is imperative because payors are repositioning themselves to own the whole health of the consumer.
- Systems are not only addressing patient mental health but also staff and clinician mental health.
- Mission is a massive driver for health systems to offer expanded behavioral health services. Many health systems have community care embedded in their DNA – behavioral healthcare is an extension of that mission.
- If hospitals want to be the go-to partner for health, they must integrate behavioral health into every aspect of what they do.
How and where providers are leading the way
- Kaiser Permanente addressed teen behavioral health needs by meeting them where they spend time teens where they spend time – online gaming and esports. They teamed up with Cloud9 to normalize conversations around mental health using influencers who talk about their struggles.
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital is building a new behavioral health in-patient facility for expanded behavioral health treatment options. They also were recently awarded a grant to pivot suicide prevention efforts with a focus on telehealth.
- Last year partnered Hoag partnered with BehaVR to deploy therapies to workers during COVID-19. Now, they're expanding to patient care for populations like expectant mothers to help address conditions like post-partum depression.
