Latest / Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast / Fixing a Broken System: How Health Plans Can Deliver the Right Mental Healthcare at the Right Time

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Fixing a Broken System: How Health Plans Can Deliver the Right Mental Healthcare at the Right Time · Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast

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  Hi, everyone. This is Erica Spicer Mason with
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  Becker's Healthcare. Thank you so much for tuning
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  into the Becker's Payer Issues podcast series.
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  So today we're going to talk about how
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  health plans can play a role in delivering
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  the right mental health care services at the
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  right
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  time. And joining me for this conversation is
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  Jenna Glover,
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  chief clinical officer at Headspace.
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  Jenna, welcome to the podcast. Thank you so
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  much for making time for Becker's today.
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  Oh, yes. Thank you for having me.
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  We're so happy to have you with us.
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  And before we get into our discussion on
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  mental health care and all of the important
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  components that play into that, I wanted to
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  give you the opportunity to just share a
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  little bit about yourself and your work in
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  health care with our listeners.
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  Yeah. So I'm a licensed clinical psychologist. And,
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  you know, my journey in mental health care
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  spans the past two decades. I've worked in
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  a wide range of clinical settings. So I've
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  been in community mental health, in large hospital
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  systems.
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  And before before joining Headspace, I served as
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  an associate professor. I was in the department
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  of psychiatry at the University of Colorado, and
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  I had an appointment at Children's Hospital Colorado.
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  And this was during the COVID nineteen pandemic,
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  and I really witnessed firsthand how broken our
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  mental health system had become.
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  So we had many times where we had
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  dozens of children in our emergency department waiting
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  for urgent mental health evaluations.
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  Some of those kids had to wait between
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  twenty four to forty eight hours because we
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  just did not have enough space or providers
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  to give them timely access to care.
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  And that wasn't really unique to our hospital
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  that was happening across the country.
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  And I would say that that experience was
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  a turning point for me, that I knew
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  I wanted to create something different and something
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  better. And so that's why I came to
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  Headspace to really reimagine
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  how mental health care is delivered
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  so people get access to effective care when
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  they need it.
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  So, you know, one of the things we
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  do at Headspace
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  is providing a comprehensive ecosystem of care, and
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  we support health plans and employers to offer
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  solutions
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  that really meet people where they are. And
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  we have that full spectrum of subclinical care,
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  of meditation and coaching,
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  up to clinical care of therapy and psychiatry
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  and care navigation.
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  Well, Jenna, thank you so much for telling
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  us a little bit more about yourself and
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  really what drives and motivates you to do
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  this work. You know, Headspace, I think, is
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  a kind of a household name at this
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  point in in terms of
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  apps and innovative ways to receive care. So
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  excited to have your perspective from both the
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  provider and and now at Headspace.
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  And you touched on kind of this this
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  big issue that we're seeing in the demand
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  for behavioral health and mental health services versus
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  supply of providers.
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  And we know that studies show that mental
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  health disparities could actually cost The US up
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  to $14,000,000,000,000
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  by the year 02/1940.
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  So it's clear that the system is in
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  need of change as you've alluded to, not
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  just to lower cost, but to improve patient
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  outcomes as well. So from your perspective, what
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  are the biggest challenges in mental health care
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  today and how are they impacting patients
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  and health plans?
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  So I think it's important to state that
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  mental health care wasn't designed with everyone in
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  mind. So our system was really built to
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  treat mental illness and not to promote or
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  sustain mental health.
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  And that leaves most people without the support
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  they actually need. And because of that, I
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  see this as two big problem areas. So
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  first, most people don't need therapy,
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  but everybody does need mental health support.
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  You know, everybody faces
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  stress, transition, challenges.
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  But therapy has become the primary offering and
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  in some cases, the only option for support.
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  And honestly, that is just not sustainable. We've
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  seen how that doesn't work.
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  I think what's missing is proactive and preventative
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  care. So things like mindfulness and coaching,
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  skills based content.
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  These are things that can help people build
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  resilience before they get to that crisis point.
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  But the system, it doesn't make it easy
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  to find or access these kind of resources.
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  And and honestly, what I have found is
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  many people don't even know they exist.
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  So that's problem number one.
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  Second, there is a subset of people who
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  do need therapy. We know that twenty three
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  percent of people have a mental health diagnosis.
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  They absolutely need treatment.
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  But for those who do need it, access
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  continues to be a huge barrier.
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  And there are many components to that. So
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  it can be cost and lack of coverage.
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  Stigma is still a problem in terms of
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  people raising their hand and saying they need
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  help.
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  And then there are really long wait times.
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  So in The US right now, it takes
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  an average of six weeks to get a
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  mental health appointment.
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  And I often tell people, like, imagine you
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  had strep throat. And they were like, we
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  can't get you in for six weeks. Like,
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  that's not a great place to be in
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  terms of helping people get back to health.
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  And the other component is most of these
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  are only available during standard work hours, so
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  it's hard to access care. And then finally,
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  if you do access care, finding the right
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  provider can be challenging. We don't have as
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  diverse a workforce as we need to in
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  the therapy field.
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  And that's important because outcomes are dependent on
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  if you feel like your therapist really gets
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  you. So all of these hurdles add up.
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  So I think if we want to make
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  meaningful change, both for people in the health
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  care system, we really have to reimagine it
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  as something that's more proactive,
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  inclusive, and truly
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  accessible to everyone.
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  Yeah. Jenna, I I really appreciate how you
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  touched on all of those barriers and kind
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  of how they fit under that umbrella of
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  overall access issues, you know, whether that's diversity
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  in the provider pool, stigma, wait times.
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  I know you also mentioned it seems that
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  proactive and preventative care is kind of missing
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  from this puzzle as well.
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  So considering all of this, how is this
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  informing your work at Headspace?
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  Yeah. Our our point of view at Headspace
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  is everyone deserves support, but not everybody needs
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  the same kind. So let's get away from
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  a one size fits all approach. And and
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  to do that, you really have to personalize
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  care and deliver the right mix of care
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  at the right time and do it across
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  a broad range of really interconnected services.
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  And our point of view is that you
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  have to leverage technology and clinical science in
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  order to do this at scale and to
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  keep outcomes at lower cost.
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  So what we do is we start with
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  smart triage. So we clinical assessments and empathetic
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  questions
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  help us build a deep understanding of each
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  member's needs, their preferences, their goals.
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  And then from there, we are able to
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  hand a personalized care plan to patients, which
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  is a tailored road map that guides their
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  care journey, and it changes and adapts with
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  them as they progress.
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  So if you think about, you know, one
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  member with sleep concerns might be guided to
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  our finding your best sleep program, and another,
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  it's more significant. They need to start therapy
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  right away. But they also only see a
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  therapist once a week. And so making sure
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  that they have access to content and clinician
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  assigned activities so they have those higher touch
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  points.
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  You know, for us, I think it's not
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  just about digital convenience. It's about dynamic and
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  responsive care that supports people, like, every step
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  of the way, not just during a crisis,
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  but for their whole entire life whenever it
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  is they need it. Because mental health changes
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  consistently, and we wanna be there with those
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  changes.
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  Yeah. That's great, Jenna.
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  And you touching on personalization
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  in in has Headspace's approach, it it really
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  resonates because we're just hearing that across health
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  care, whether it's mental health care and behavioral
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  health service delivery or,
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  finding a provider or whatever it might be
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  in a care journey, personalization seems to be
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  really rising to the top in terms of
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  priority for reaching patients.
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  So so I wanted to tie this back
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  to the health plan space. So
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  we know that payers are increasingly focused on
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  measuring outcomes.
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  How can payers utilize different care models or
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  some of their approaches that you're touching on
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  to drive meaningful change while keeping cost in
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  mind. Are there any key metrics they should
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  really be looking at?
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  Yeah. So I I think there's a couple
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  of things in answering this question, and and
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  you'll hear me beating the drum a little
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  bit. But the first is it's it's the
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  key is building a model that's both stratified
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  and personalized. So first of all, recognizing
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  not everyone needs the same type or intensity
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  of support. So let's route people from the
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  start to the right level of care with
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  the right mix of components. So let's get
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  the dosage right and what we're putting together.
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  What happens is then this
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  precision this precision is going to lead to
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  smarter care delivery. So it's going to reduce
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  waste.
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  It encourages sustained engagement,
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  and that's going to result in better outcomes
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  and lower cost.
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  I'd I'd mentioned this before, but Headspace, we
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  place a really strong emphasis on the value
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  of subclinical care. So things like sleep, mental
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  health coaching,
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  stress management.
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  So those things are gonna help prevent clinical
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  escalation
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  and promote wellness when we deliver them pro
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  actively. But all of that said, none of
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  this works without measurement based care.
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  And measurement based care is something that only
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  twenty percent of mental health providers do today.
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  And I think this is where tech enabled
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  mental health has a real advantage. So what
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  we need to be doing is tracking a
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  wide range of metrics
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  to understand what's working.
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  So this is everything from engagement levels and
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  also type of engagement. So one of the
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  things we're able to do is for certain
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  population, say this is the the kind of
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  content your your population is really engaging in
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  sleep.
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  There's more you could do around stress. So
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  what does engagement look like and what are
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  the engagement areas?
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  The retention of people, the length of care
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  episodes, and symptom reduction using kind of the
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  gold standards of the PHQ, the GAD,
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  and the perceived stress scale. So, all of
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  these things help track progress. And then finally,
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  not just symptom reduction, but we should also
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  be looking at metrics of people building meaningful
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  skills.
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  So what are they leaving therapy or clinical
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  or preventative services with that will allow them
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  to thrive and sustain those that progress, later
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  on?
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  Yeah. So interesting.
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  Jenna, thanks for giving us a rundown of
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  some of those recommended metrics.
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  And as you look ahead,
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  payers are also really focusing on kind of
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  value based models, especially when it comes to
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  measurement as we were just touching on. So
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  how do you see the role of health
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  plans really evolving in delivering value based mental
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  health care? And what steps do you think
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  leaders should take now to integrate
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  more effective care models?
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  Yeah. So
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  our world just continues to be,
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  very uncertain and stressors abound. So there's gonna
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  just continue to be a push for more
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  mental health support. As it continues to grow,
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  I see health plans as being uniquely positioned
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  to lead the shift towards value based, mental
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  health care so we can deliver better care
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  at lower cost.
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  So it really I think the future is
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  in building comprehensive, scalable solutions.
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  And the primary drivers are access and engagement.
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  But it's important to say that it's not
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  just about expanding services. We have to make
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  sure those services are grounded in evidence based
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  practice.
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  They need to be culturally responsive
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  because a person's identity, their lived experience,
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  their cultural context, they all shape how a
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  person engages in care. And so if we're
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  not attending to that, we're going to lose
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  out. And then it has to include that
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  measurement based care foundation. So I think this
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  is a powerful moment, and health plans can
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  leverage their wide networks. And what they need
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  to do is pair that with rapidly evolving
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  technology
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  to support more people more quickly and more
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  effectively than ever before.
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  Stratification
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  historically has been very expensive, and AI is
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  opening a door where we can do it
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  in in a cost effective way at a
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  level of scale we never could before.
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  The other thing I think has to be
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  that shift towards preventative mental health care. So
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  we know that it reduced cost and improves
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  outcomes.
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  So we need to support people earlier, and
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  we need to pay for that, and reimburse
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  that.
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  So for leaders from my perspective, the the
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  path forward is clear. You invest in integrated
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  tech enabled care models that prioritize prevention,
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  speed of access, and quality outcomes.
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  And I think
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  when we're able to do that,
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  we help people stay well and we create
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  a sustainable and an efficient system.
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  Yeah, Jenna, so well said. Thank you so
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  much for all of your insights today. This
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  has been such a quick but educational conversation
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  for me and I'm sure for so many
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  of our listeners.
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  Is there anything we didn't cover that you
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  wanted to mention or any final thoughts thoughts
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  you wanted to share? I think it's important
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  to say that investing in mental health care
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  is essential for overall health
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  and that there is really high levels of
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  comorbidity between chronic conditions.
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  So we know there's high comorbidity between cancer
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  and depression, diabetes and depression.
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  And so, you know, we can't address and
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  provide great physical health without having mental health
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  care as a strong foundation because those things
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  are linked. And when we're thinking about cost
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  effective, scalable care,
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  this component really is essential for the entire
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  healthcare system and isn't specific to just one
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  segment.
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  Wow. Jenna, thank you so much again. This
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  has been a great conversation. And again, really
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  appreciate you making the time for Becker's today.
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  Thanks so much for having me.
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  We also wanna thank our podcast sponsor, Headspace.
• 13:02
  Listeners, be sure to tune into more podcasts
• 13:04
  from Becker's Healthcare by visiting our podcast page
• 13:07
  at beckershospitalreview.com.