BH conditions — especially when unmanaged — drive total cost of care up and outcomes down. That’s bad news for both the numerator and denominator in the “value” equation. In other words, organizations can’t succeed under value if they don’t address BH needs.

At the same time, the industry has failed to effectively scale access to BH care under fee-for-service systems. Low reimbursement rates have pushed a meaningful proportion of the workforce to operate outside of the insurance system, and procedural services almost always win out in zero-sum competition for system resources. 

So, our VBC efforts need BH care — and vice versa.