By OPEN MINDS Circle
To accelerate behavioral health integration (BHI) in provider organizations, the American Medical Association (AMA) recommended the use of virtual care (telehealth) and a variety of digital tools to facilitate the consumer behavioral health journey. With the goal of ensuring widespread integration of behavioral health, the AMA put forth specific recommendations that address the role of each stakeholder: physician practices and systems, health plans and coverage programs, federal and state policymakers, employers, and private or publicly-traded behavioral health companies.
Payers should focus on coverage and reducing costs for members. Health plans should increase adoption by expanding coverage and fair payment with a margin for all stakeholders utilizing the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) and other BHI models. Employers sound reduce out-of-pocket costs for employees seeking care by evaluating how and when to apply cost-sharing.
Policymakers should focus on incorporating digital tools into clinical work flows and on expanding the workforce. Physician practices and health systems should increase behavioral health diagnosis and treatment rates by incorporating evidence-based digital health solutions and enabling technology into standard workflows. Federal policymakers should expand the behavioral health workforce by increasing federal funding for efforts such as loan forgiveness and new residency and training programs.
Private or publicly traded behavioral health companies should focus collecting evidence. They should generate robust clinical and economic evidence for digitally enabled BHI. They should work with stakeholders to develop national standards for integration technologies.
AMA recommended different sets of tools to assist in the steps along the consumer BHI journey. The tools enable engagement or facilitate delivery of care.
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AMA-Recommended Digital Tools To Use Along The BHI Consumer Journey | ||||||
| Tool | Tool Type | Use For Consumer Intake | Use For Primary Care Screening & Evaluation | Use For Engagement With Behavioral Health Provider (Via Referral, Enrollment, or “Warm Hand-Off”) | Use For Behavioral Health Treatment |
Use For Consumer-Mediated Care (Strategies To Engage Consumers In Their Own Care) |
| Digital Intake & Screening Tools | Enabling | X | X | |||
| Digital Referral Tools | Enabling | X | X | X | ||
| Interoperable EHR/Technology Platforms | Enabling | X | X | X | X | |
| Panel Management/Population Health Management Tools | Enabling | X | X | X | X | |
| Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) | Enabling | X | X | X | X | |
| Digital Social Determinants Of Health Tools | Enabling | X | X | X | X | |
| Machine Learning Algorithm-Enhanced Clinical Decision Support | Enabling | X | X | X | X | |
| Digital Prescribing Platforms | Enabling | X | X | X | ||
| Telehealth | Care Delivery | X | X | X | X | |
| Digital Medication Management Tools | Care Delivery | X | X | X | X | |
| Remote Consumer Monitoring | Care Delivery | X | X | X | X | |
| Consumer-Mediated Care Tools & Digital Therapeutics | Care Delivery | X | X | X | X | |
The recommendations were released in “Accelerating and Enhancing Behavioral Health Integration Through Digitally Enabled Care: Opportunities and Challenges” by the AMA in collaboration with Manatt Health. The organizations convened a working group representative of physician practices, large employers, health plans, and consumer advocates to contribute to and inform the generation of the report. The goal was to articulate the opportunities and challenges of incorporating virtual care (telehealth) and other digital tools to accelerate the adoption of BHI.
For more information, contact: Robert J. Mills, Media Relations Coordinator, American Medical Association, 330 North Wabash Avenue, Suite 39300, Chicago, Illinois 60611-5885; 312-464-5970; Email: robert.mills@ama-assn.org; Website: https://www.ama-assn.org/