Demand for mental health and substance use care is on the rise. And that’s pushed behavioral health to the top of the list of priorities for leaders at provider organizations and health plans. But many organizations are still developing a comprehensive strategy for their behavioral health lines of business or service lines. This is hard on behavioral health teams, who feel swamped by the crisis and have no capacity to strategize toward long-term goals. And the impact goes beyond behavioral health leaders. Unmet behavioral health needs interfere with today’s biggest priorities for provider organizations and health plans: reducing total cost of care, meeting quality standards for patients or members, and improving workforce retention and resilience.

Use this tool to assess the maturity of your behavioral health strategic function and identify near-term focus areas across four key domains: governance, data, goal setting, and partnerships. Start with these core areas to effectively tackle the biggest challenges in behavioral health. For each line, determine which stage most accurately reflects your organization’s current state. Progressing along the continuum will strengthen your internal infrastructure for behavioral health strategic planning and operations.