The roles that different stakeholders can play: The report specifically details how different healthcare stakeholders can implement digitally enabled behavioral health solutions.
- employers may reevaluate their cost-sharing policies to lower out-of-pocket costs for employees seeking behavioral health care. In addition, they can expand the primary care networks they contract with and adopt technology that allows for more seamless coordination between providers.
- providers (medical practices, health systems, hospitals) can implement digital health solutions to drive communication between primary care specialists and behavioral health clinicians to improve behavioral health diagnoses and treatment rates.
- insurers can implement pay parity for behavioral health virtual visits to lower the barrier to access for patients. They can also expand their provider networks and reduce cumbersome administrative processes, such as prior authorizations, to ensure fewer patients needing care are missed.
2 key ways digital health can drive value in behavioral health care: While the AMA lists several strategies that use digital tools to make the patient journey less fragmented, we believe two will be the most impactful in helping unlock broader access to mental health care in the US. :
1. Provision of virtual health care
Video/audio visits and on-demand text-based communication with mental health providers can make behavioral health care more accessible by removing barriers like transportation and making it easier for patients to fit a visit into their schedule. This translates into better managed mental health conditions, lower downstream costs for insurers, and stable revenue for providers.
- Lack of access to reliable transportation impedes patients’ access to care and costs the US healthcare system dearly. $150 billion annually.
- American doctors experienced an average drop of 32% in revenue due to the pandemic and loss of patient visit volume. Telehealth helped cushion her financial woes and provided a steady stream of income.
2. Care coordination tools
Between going to a primary care doctor, being referred to the right behavioral health provider, finding the right medications/treatments, and navigating back and forth with insurers, patients can easily slip through the cracks and miss out on the care they need. . Digital health tools take the hassle out of this process by streamlining communication between providers and easily integrating care features like prescriptions and referrals.
The largest photo: The mental health crisis in the US continues to snowball and is compounded by a growing shortage of mental health providers.
- 4 out of 10 American adults reported symptom of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, compared to 1 in 10 who said the same in 2019.
- And while there is a high demand for mental health services, there is also a shrinking workforce of specialists. Today’s Mental Health Workforce only covers 28.1% of the need for mental health in the US, by 2021 data from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
- Digital health tools can bridge these gaps, and consumers are willing to engage with them. Consumers with mental health conditions are twice as likely to use telehealth as all consumers, by PwC Health Research Institute.
