Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech 2023 Shined a Light on Top Care Solutions
“It was gratifying to witness so many individuals and companies working collaboratively to solve the growing behavioral health accessibility challenge.”
Shana Hoffman – President & CEO
It was energizing to gather with colleagues, industry peers, customers and new connections at this year’s Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech, the largest conference focused on expanding access to mental health and substance use care through tech. With the state of behavioral health in America at crisis levels, it was gratifying to witness so many individuals and companies working collaboratively to solve the growing behavioral health accessibility challenge.
At the event, we delved deeper into these challenges and potential solutions during our panel session, “Overcoming the Obstacles to Value-Based Behavioral Health Care: Practical Guidance for Payers, Providers & Employers.” I had the opportunity to lead a spirited discussion for a packed audience with panelists Wendy Zhao Hiltner (associate general manager of market development and performance at SCAN) and Samantha F. Chafin, MBA (senior director of behavioral health strategy and operational integration at GuideWell) about the types of strategies their respective health plans are implementing to achieve true value-based behavioral health arrangements.
“With Lucet, we are now able to have baseline data, and seeing patient outcomes following care is leading the way for us to have behavioral health value-based arrangements.”
Samantha Chafin, Senior Director of BH Strategy and Operational Integration at GuideWell
These were among the key takeaways from our discussion:
The need to develop population-specific services and technology offerings
Samantha Chafin noted that the industry is beginning to develop behavioral health services and technology for different member populations, such as seniors and adolescents. As an example, she pointed to GuideWell, which has begun focusing on integrating behavioral health care into specialties such as OB-GYN and pediatric care. The announcement during the conference of a $1.5-million funding round raised by BeMe Health, the developer of an interventional behavioral health platform for teens, served as a further example of this shift towards care delivery specialization.
Adopting measurement-based care models is critical
The current system for measuring and paying for behavioral health services continues to be fragmented and inefficient, leading to a host of benchmarking challenges like difficulty in tracking outcomes and measuring the impact of interventions. The panelists discussed the need to develop a behavioral health measurement/payment model similar to those used elsewhere in the health care industry. These can provide a more standardized and consistent way to measure, and ultimately reimburse, for behavioral health services.
Leveraging tools to measure outcomes is key to future successes
As noted, for a measurement-based care model to be successful, there needs to be a more standardized way to track members’ treatment outcomes. Integrated technology solutions like Lucet’s Navigate & Connect can help. Navigate & Connect includes our proprietary and clinically validated Behavioral Health Index (BHI®), which is registered with the Joint Commission and based on measurement-based care (MBC) models. It enables health plans and their networked providers to gain access to real-time, granular insights into member demand, care quality and outcomes. As Samantha Chafin noted, “With Lucet, we (GuideWell) are now able to have baseline data, and seeing patient outcomes following care is leading the way for us to have behavioral health value-based arrangements.”
Want more details about our panel discussion at the BHT2023? Read recent coverage from Behavioral Health Business.
Shana Hoffman is president and CEO at Lucet, The Behavioral Health Optimization Company.
