Your Mental Health Matters

June 8, 2021 · NCQA Communications

May is the official “Mental Health Awareness Month”. But these days, isn’t every month an opportunity to ask your friends, family and colleagues, “How are you doing?”

With nearly one in five American adults living with a mental illness – addressing behavioral health outcomes persists as a priority.

At NCQA, we believe that the future of health care delivery requires collaboration between diverse areas of health care. Thanks to a sponsorship from Janssen Scientific Affairs, NCQA recently created the Population Health Management Resource Guide for Behavioral Health.  This resource will help organizations use population health management to manage their population with behavioral health conditions.

This guide also shares our flagship programs, promoting population health management and behavioral health through measurement, transparency, and accountability. Here are the ways we’re addressing behavioral health:

• Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®): HEDIS creates accountability and benchmarks to improve patients’ health and the quality of care they receive. The HEDIS measure set contains measures related to behavioral health, including screening for common behavioral health conditions.
• Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH): The medical home model is a person-centered framework for organizing primary care that meets individuals’ needs by providing “the right care at the right time.” NCQA’s PCMH Recognition program is the most widely used medical home model.
• Distinction in Behavioral Health Integration: This distinction helps practices demonstrate that they deliver comprehensive, whole-person care that identifies and intervenes upon behavioral health needs in the primary care setting, resulting in better overall health outcomes.
• Health Plan Accreditation: The HPA is the only performance-based evaluation of a health plan’s structures and processes for quality improvement, population health management, utilization management, network management, practitioner credentialing, and member experience.
• Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organization: MBHO Accreditation is for organizations managing behavioral healthcare on behalf of health plans, employers, or regulators.
• Population Health Program Accreditation: PHP Accreditation is for organizations that manage a population on behalf of a payer (health plan, state, employer). These organizations often provide programs that address specific populations (defined by age, demographics or payer) or chronic conditions (behavioral or mental health conditions).

Our work doesn’t end there. We recognized and promoted #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth through a series of social media posts, advocacy, and events.

We encourage you to engage with us on social media to raise awareness for mental health. And not just during May, but year-around.

And don’t miss the opportunity to download a free copy of our extensive Behavioral Health Resource Guide.