Highmark's expanded access to high-quality mental health care delivers results
A year after launching a mental and behavioral health platform, Highmark is reporting significant improvements in both access to care and member outcomes.
Highmark introduced Mental Well-Being powered by Spring Health in January 2024, now enabling 2.5 million people ages six and up access to mental health care. The tool includes screenings for more than a dozen mental health conditions, the ability to quickly schedule a virtual or in-person appointment with a therapist or psychiatrist and a library of on-demand educational resources.
The collaboration is part of Highmark's ongoing commitment to making mental and behavioral health an equal pillar to medical health, said Doug Henry, a clinical psychologist who serves as medical director for Highmark Health's enterprise behavioral health team. Today, Mental Well-Being is available to members across a wide range of Highmark plans, including commercial fully insured and self-funded, Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage and the Pennsylvania Children's Health Insurance Program.
'Mental health is a key part of whole-person health,' Henry said. 'You can never talk about someone's mental health separate from the context of their overall medical health.'
Improving access, outcomes
Just over a year into the collaboration, Spring Health has completed more than 100,000 appointments for Highmark members. The results were incredibly compelling, Henry shared, demonstrating the effectiveness of rapid access to high-quality, low-friction care. Highlights include:
It takes less than two days on average for members to secure a psychiatric or psychotherapy appointment, compared to more than a month in much of the U.S.
People are using mental health services more readily, with 80% of Mental Well-Being users engaging in mental health services for the first time in at least 18 months.
On average, members with moderate to severe anxiety or depression are treated to remission in less than six sessions.
'Mental health treatment can be expensive, so you want to have efficacious care,' Henry said. 'You want to have someone go into treatment where there is a beginning, middle and an end, and then they're better. Mental Well-Being is delivering that for us.'
The benefits extend beyond cost containment, he said. Employees who access timely and effective mental health care are more productive, more engaged and healthier overall. When untreated, mental health challenges can exacerbate physical health issues as well.
'Investing in high-quality, effective mental health services is one of the best ways — and one of the least expensive ways — to lower total cost of care for your employees while improving community health,' Henry said.
How it works
Finding the right therapist is a common challenge for those seeking mental health support. Spring Health uses an AI-driven algorithm to match people to providers who are most likely to meet their needs, considering a host of consumer preferences to ensure a good fit.
'Ninety-six percent of our members who get paired with a Spring Health clinician stay with that clinician for six months or longer or through the course of their treatment,' Henry said. 'That's very unusual in mental health. It's more typical that about 50% of the time the first therapist you meet is not a match.'
In addition, Mental Well-Being goes beyond offering therapy and psychiatric appointments. It includes educational programs, self-guided cognitive behavioral therapy programs for issues such as stress, meditation programs and behavioral health coaching. It also offers medication management, 24/7 crisis support and higher levels of specialized care for substance use disorders, eating disorders and other complex challenges.
Continued growth
Highmark is continuing to invest in expanding mental health services through both the Mental Well-Being program and its network of 44,000 providers, Henry said. The company is closely studying the data to identify which interventions yield the best results and incorporating mental health as part of each person's overall care.
'We believe in delivering the right mental health care, at the right time, tailored to each individual's unique needs and circumstances,' he said. 'And Mental Well-Being is how we're scaling that personalized access to care for our members.'
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