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Behavioral healthcare continues to be treated as a lower priority in our healthcare system.

When behavioral health needs are not addressed, patients may feel unsupported, delaying their recovery.

If behavioral healthcare is truly healthcare, our systems should better align and reflect that belief.

Behavioral healthcare should be available as readily, reliably, and routinely as other forms of healthcare.

As we approach World Mental Health Day on October 10, we will again hear a familiar statement: “There is no health without mental health.” You will find very few people who disagree. However, the way healthcare is organized sends a very different message.

Even though mental health holds a much more prominent role in our national dialogue, behavioral healthcare continues to be treated as a lower priority in our healthcare system. It is still commonly financed, delivered, and discussed as though it exists somewhere just outside of the healthcare system. Patients needing mental health services are sent to different providers, through different referral systems, utilizing different insurance networks, with limited coverage and reimbursement rates. Behavioral health records often remain separate from medical records, and communication between mental health professionals and medical providers is frequently inconsistent or nonexistent.

So, although we are fond of saying behavioral health is healthcare, our systems very often do not behave in ways that validate the statement.

The Problem With the Model

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