March 13, 2009

Emerging Market Models for Behavioral Health and Human Service Organizations Their Financial & Technology Implications

In her presentation at the 2009 OPEN MINDS Best Management Practices Institute, Ms. Oss asked her audience to consider the five key drivers of emerging market models for care delivery organizations:

1. Shifts in mental health and addiction treatment financing. The public sector now funds 58% of mental health treatment services and 77% of addiction treatment services. For mental health, Medicaid is now the single largest funder, with state and local funders the largest source of addiction treatment funding.

2. Changes to the Medicaid and Medicare programs such as behavioral health parity in Medicare. The definitions of and eligibility for rehabilitation and case management will bring changes to Federal system resources in Medicaid.

3. Payer and consumer preference for integrated services public and private payers are integrating behavioral health services in a number of models. The advantages of an integrated system to payers include administrative simplification and decreased total cost.

4. The growing role of consumer preference and choice such as the increasing use of defined contribution plans and savings account models in the public and private sector, and the growing consumer out of pocket contribution overall in health care.

5. Emerging technologies in behavioral health and human services including information management tools that use available data to assess treatments and systems and technologies that can create new service delivery models.