High-Need, High-Cost Patients: The Role of Behavioral Health

Behavioral health conditions, including mental health issues and substance use disorders, affect nearly one in five Americans and account for $57 billion in health care costs annually. This briefing will discuss current initiatives to integrate behavioral and physical health care services in order to improve quality of care and reduce overall health care costs.

Jose Figueroa, researcher, Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, will discuss his groundbreaking research focusing on Medicare beneficiaries with complex health needs, as well as the importance of addressing behavioral health issues in order to improve quality of care and reduce overall health care costs for these high-need, high-cost beneficiaries.

Howard Goldman, professor, University of Maryland, will provide an overview of the evidence supporting collaborative care models integrating behavioral and physical health care and discuss potential issues related to the adoption of these integrated models, including payment-related barriers in the fee-for-service context.

Jeff Richardson, executive director, Mosaic Community Services, will provide an on-the-ground perspective of integrated care and describe the innovative model that he and his team have implemented at Mosaic.

Benjamin Miller, director, Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine, will discuss models for integrating primary care and mental health services and the potential for improved health outcomes and lower overall health care costs. His remarks will also address the need to build a health care workforce that better supports the system we want in the future.

Ed Howard of the Alliance for Health Reform and Melinda Abrams of The Commonwealth Fund will co-moderate the panel discussion.

Follow the Briefing on Twitter: #BehavioralHealth

Contact: Monica Laufer mlaufer@allhealth.org 202-789-2300