In February, we hosted a webinar with Hospitalogy on unifying physical and behavioral health data to create actionable insights so that health plans and health systems can improve care and outcomes. The panel discussion brought together experts from health plans, integrated delivery networks, and technology. Our panelists included Tammer Attallah, Executive Clinical Director of Behavioral Health Programs at Intermountain Health, Erin Daly Hunt, Director of Clinical Operations at Devoted Health, and Robert Capobianco, Chief Operating Officer at NeuroFlow. 

For those who missed it, you can watch the full webinar below and read on for top takeaways. 

We Need a Better Way to Manage Growing Behavioral Health Demand

The panel discussed how demand for behavioral health services has grown significantly in recent years, due to destigmatization and a rise in acuity post-Covid. With this influx of demand, health systems and plans face significant challenges in proactively identifying and connecting patients to effective care. The discussion emphasized that it’s not just about creating more behavioral health access, but about connecting patients with the right interventions that match their specific needs.

As Attallah explained, “It’s not so much more access per se, it’s really access to the right and effective care at the right time and place.“

Data Integration Creates Actionable Insights to Support Behavioral Health Upstream

Healthcare organizations are just beginning to break down physical and behavioral health data silos to inform better care decisions. The panelists discussed how combining behavioral health data with physical health records provides a more comprehensive understanding of patient needs. Beyond just collecting data, the focus is now on making it actionable and meaningful.

With better insights, health plans and health systems can target cohorts with rising acuity and connect them with the many resources these organizations have already invested in, whether that’s telehealth, educational resources, or coaching. These early interventions prevent undiagnosed or underdiagnosed individuals from escalating in severity and utilizing more complex and costly care.

Measuring Success Through Patient-Centered Outcomes

Healthcare organizations must understand which metrics point to the impact and outcomes they hope to drive through their care programs. Capobianco discussed why understanding the context and goals you’re trying to reach are critical. “It’s about how do you apply it to the context of care to get to an outcome, to get to a reduction of care, or to get the consumer into care faster,” said Capobianco. “It depends on what you’re asking of the data, not if you have data.”

Hunt added that it’s also important to track metrics from the patient’s perspective. She said, “Our diabetic patients that also have depression aren’t saying, ‘I want my A1C to improve,’ but they’re saying, ‘I want to feel better. I want to be able to do the things that I used to do.’ And when we focus around that, we’re able to address both of those needs.”

Addressing Provider Burden Is Critical for Success

For behavioral health integration to succeed, solutions must reduce administrative burden rather than add to it. The panel discussed how providers already face significant time constraints, and any new technology must work within existing workflows to be adopted successfully.

The speakers emphasized the importance of creating seamless integrations with electronic health records and designing tools that fit naturally into clinical processes, allowing providers to focus on patient care rather than documentation. It’s not enough for solutions to achieve a net neutral in terms of provider burden, said Attallah. They need to reduce that burden significantly in order to be implemented.

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