Integration of care is key to sustained recovery

This post is part of a series of brief takeaways from working in the behavioral health space over the past year

Regardless of socioeconomic level, mental illness is a prevalent part of American society. Half of people with mental illness also have substance use disorder. Among the clients I worked with over the past year, about 3 out of 4 had co-morbid serious mental illness and opioid use disorder.

A key to reducing emergency room utilization for our patients was integrating mental health and addiction treatment under one roof. Whether in a single setting or through good coordination between multiple providers, mental health and addiction treatment need to be seamlessly coordinated. Payment and care model design should reflect that need.

In addition to merging mental health and addiction treatment, behavioral health as a whole needs to be interwoven with physical health. In the last couple of decades of behavioral health carve-outs, it has become vogue to separate payment for somatic care and behavioral care into isolated managed care niches. Unfortunately, these parallel payment streams preclude effective treatment of the whole person. States like Virginia are pioneering the reintegration of behavioral and somatic care. Other state’s should follow.

Next post: Work requirements don’t work, Medicaid expansion does