NCQA

Julie Seibert

Care Access Champion

Primary Care Creates Opportunities for Behavioral Health Intervention

For too long, behavioral health has been treated as separate from the rest of healthcare, despite its profound influence on overall well-being. Mental health affects how people manage chronic conditions, follow treatment plans and maintain quality of life. Recognizing this connection requires healthcare systems, payment models and quality strategies to support more integrated care.

This belief drives NCQA's partnership with West Health through the Advancing Behavioral Health Initiative, a multi-year effort focused on accelerating meaningful behavioral health quality measures that strengthen integration across care settings. During a recent convening, healthcare leaders, policymakers, clinicians and quality experts reached a shared conclusion that improving behavioral healthcare begins in primary care.

Primary Care Creates Earlier Opportunities for Care

Throughout my career in behavioral health, from North Carolina's public mental health system to organizations dedicated to improving healthcare quality, one challenge has remained consistent. Too many people struggle to receive timely behavioral healthcare, and workforce shortages have only widened those gaps.

Today, primary care has become the place where many behavioral health concerns are first recognized. For some individuals, a visit with a primary care clinician may be the only opportunity for conditions such as depression, anxiety or substance use disorders to be identified. Integrating standardized screening, measurement-informed care and systematic follow-up into routine practice helps detect concerns earlier, supports better treatment decisions and reduces the likelihood that patients fall through the cracks.

Primary care's broad reach makes it one of the most effective settings for improving behavioral health outcomes. Embedding behavioral healthcare into everyday clinical practice enables providers to address both physical and behavioral health needs through a more coordinated approach.

Addressing Barriers through Practical Solutions

Despite growing support for integrated care, meaningful barriers continue to limit progress. Many communities continue to face shortages of behavioral health professionals, making referrals difficult even when patients are identified. At the same time, reimbursement models do not always provide sustainable support for integrated care, creating financial challenges for primary care practices seeking to expand behavioral health services.

“Strengthening primary care, advancing meaningful measurement and fostering collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem creates more connected systems of care that improve behavioral health outcomes for millions of Americans.”

Healthcare organizations also need practical, evidence-based quality measures that identify behavioral health needs, monitor follow-up care and evaluate outcomes consistently. Without reliable measurement, it becomes difficult to understand performance or identify opportunities for improvement. Through the Advancing Behavioral Health Initiative, NCQA and West Health are working with stakeholders to build consensus around a focused set of actionable measures that support meaningful improvements in care delivery.

Technology also offers important opportunities to expand access and strengthen behavioral healthcare. Virtual care, digital therapeutics, AI-enabled tools and remote symptom monitoring can extend provider capacity and improve patient engagement. However, innovation must be accompanied by rigorous evaluation so providers and payers can confidently identify solutions that deliver measurable value for patients.

Collaboration Drives Lasting Change

Improving behavioral healthcare requires coordinated action across the healthcare system. Primary care clinicians, behavioral health providers, health plans, employers, policymakers, patients and families all contribute to creating more integrated, patient-centered care. No single organization can achieve this transformation alone.

One lesson I have carried throughout my career is that lasting progress comes from collaboration built around shared goals. That principle continues to guide NCQA's work with West Health as the Advancing Behavioral Health Initiative brings together diverse perspectives to develop practical solutions that strengthen quality measurement and improve access to care.

The momentum surrounding behavioral health integration is encouraging. By continuing to strengthen primary care, advance meaningful measurement and work together across the healthcare ecosystem, we can create more connected systems of care that improve behavioral health outcomes for millions of Americans.