Behavioral health encompasses individual and family well-being, as well as a wide range of conditions that differ in degree of intensity and impact. As with physical health, behavioral health affects patients in highly personal and unique ways. And both behavioral and physical health influence each other significantly to determine overall health.
New research released today by Evernorth, the health services division of The Cigna Group, shows that while 50% of adults with a behavioral condition do not receive treatment, a robust ecosystem inclusive of early identification, along with personalized care pathways with patient to provider matching, can result in improved outcomes.
“Improving care begins with recognizing the long and chaotic road to finding effective treatment,” said Dr. Doug Nemecek, chief medical officer for behavioral health quality, integration, and clinical operations at Evernorth. “Finding a therapist who has demonstrated effective treatment for someone’s specific behavioral health condition is not easy. For one, the demand for care is much higher than the supply of providers, which often leads to delays in care, poor patient outcomes, and higher health care costs.”
And the demand for providers only continues to grow. Evernorth’s analysis finds that the prevalence of behavioral health conditions grew by 4% from 2021 to 2022. The analysis, which looks at anonymized and aggregated claims data of 6 million people from 2021 to 2022, finds that increases in prevalence vary by condition, with the largest occurring within attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), personality disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. The data also shows that the 22% of patients with a diagnosed behavioral condition drive 41% of total health care spend for the entire population.