Stuart Piltch - Making Sense of the Ecosystem for Transforming Care

Achieving optimal health cannot rely on improving physical health alone. Our holistic health journeys must nurture emotional resilience, a sense of well-being, and overall mental and physical health. Research conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health highlights the correlation between depression and an elevated risk of developing chronic physical conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In fact, individuals with depression demonstrated a 1.5 times higher risk of 29 medical conditions with the highest incidence of endocrine, musculoskeletal, and circulatory issues.

While efforts to address behavioral health have been prioritized in the United States, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still existing barriers that contribute to gaps in care enabling the mental health crisis, including:

• Increased demand for quality mental healthcare services resulting from a growing need, coupled with the limited availability of high-quality mental health professionals.
• Financial barriers resulting from rising healthcare costs.
• Mental health disparities experienced by underserved communities and disadvantaged populations.
• Fragmented healthcare delivery system driven by continued lack of integration and bidirectional data exchange.

My team recently examined the current healthcare ecosystem and found that current fragmentation of care prohibits members of the healthcare system from achieving a holistic care experience. We are working with our clients and health plan partners to overcome the silos that exist in delivering behavioral and physical healthcare. Ultimately, the goal is to create an integrated ecosystem that results in early identification of behavioral health conditions, increased clinical alignment, accountability, transparency, and improved cost-effective quality patient outcomes.