Mounting Evidence that use of the Mental Health Collaborative Care Model is Associated with Reductions in Total Healthcare Costs
2024年5月9日 - 8:48PM
Lack of access to affordable and effective care for mental health
and substance use disorders (MHSUDs) is at crisis levels in the US.
Primary care providers have a critical role to play in treating
these patients, yet many are ill-equipped and inadequately
compensated to do so. The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) is a
proven approach to integrating MHSUD treatment into primary care.
An Issue Brief released today by The Bowman Family Foundation calls
attention to the mounting evidence that implementation of CoCM not
only reduces health inequities by increasing MHSUD treatment access
but can also reduce total healthcare costs for commercial insurers,
Medicare, and Medicaid.
The Issue Brief, Mounting Evidence That Use of the Collaborative
Care Model Reduces Total Healthcare Costs, highlights findings from
three key studies conducted by highly respected academic and
healthcare organizations that observed healthcare cost reductions
after implementing CoCM. The studies used different patient
populations, payer mixes and payer data. Two of the studies were
previously published by researchers at the University of Washington
(IMPACT) and the University of Pennsylvania and Independence Blue
Cross (Penn/IBC). Newly reported findings from a third previously
unpublished study conducted by Kaiser Permanente Colorado continue
to demonstrate the association between CoCM implementation and
overall healthcare cost reductions.
“Upon review of the data outlined in this Issue Brief, this is
promising that the practical application of CoCM in real
populations shows the trend seen in academic studies and should
continue to mature as a practice style,” said William Beecroft, MD,
medical director of Behavioral Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan.
In the Kaiser Permanente Colorado study, total costs for 1,525
adult patients enrolled in the plan’s Depression Care Management
program and receiving CoCM in day-to-day primary care practices
were compared to costs for patients with similar characteristics
who received “treatment as usual” in primary care. Both groups
included patients insured under commercial, Medicare and Medicaid
plans. The study showed a 13% per-member-per-month savings in total
healthcare costs for patients under CoCM versus
“treatment-as-usual.”
“It’s well recognized that overall healthcare costs are
significantly higher for people with mental health and substance
use disorders, and that these higher costs are driven by
medical/surgical care costs,” said Henry Harbin, MD, advisor to The
Bowman Family Foundation. “This Issue Brief highlights important
and growing evidence supporting the critical role that
collaborative care can play in reducing costs.”
While each of these studies has limitations, taken together, the
findings contribute to mounting evidence that implementing CoCM in
day-to-day primary care not only improves access to MHSUD
treatment, but also reduces overall healthcare costs, and that such
reductions may occur as early as the first year and can increase
over 3-4 years.
To underscore the need for increased access to in-network MHSUD
care, the authors recommend that regulators and quality
accreditation agencies treat in-network CoCM services as in-network
MHSUD services when evaluating network adequacy and out-of-network
use rates.
Supporters of the recommendations listed in the Issue Brief
include many of the nation’s leading mental health and employer
groups.
Collaborative Care ModelA well-established,
evidence-based method of integrating MHSUD care into primary care,
under CoCM the primary care provider retains treatment
responsibility for patients with MHSUDs while supported by a
behavioral care manager and a psychiatric consultant. Expanding
screening and standardized symptom monitoring, CoCM improves
access, early detection, intervention, and effective treatment for
MHSUDs. It provides a natural, practical solution to quickly close
the gap between the need for MHSUD care and the capacity of the
specialty MHSUD delivery system to meet this need.
May 10 WebinarIn a complimentary webinar on May
10 from noon-1:00 pm ET, Patricia deSa, director of the National
Mental Health, Wellness, and Addiction Care program at Kaiser
Permanente will share their study findings and details on the
expansion of this effort nationally to all of their markets,
building on the success of the Kaiser Permanente Colorado study.
This webinar is hosted by the MidAtlantic Path Forward that is led
by the MidAtlantic Business Group on Health and the Mental Health
Association of Maryland. Learn more and register.
About The Bowman Family FoundationThe Bowman
Family Foundation is a private foundation qualifying as 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization. The primary mission of the Foundation is to
improve the lives of people with mental health and substance use
conditions. The Foundation also provides funding to support the
education and welfare of children. For more information, visit
thebowmanfamilyfoundation.org.
Media contact:
Cary Conway
cary@conwaycommunication.com
972.649.4707