Treatment gaps continue to grow for US individuals with mental health conditions. A third of those with any mental illness and half of those with serious mental illness reported unmet needs in 2021.1 Despite improvements in coverage for mental health care over the past 2 decades, demand for services continues to increase and access has lagged. Even insured consumers face significant challenges in finding available and accessible in-network practitioners due to mental health professionals’ low participation rates in public and private insurance networks. Many factors disincentivize network participation, including low reimbursement rates, clinical complexity and acuity, and insufficient workplace supports.2 Yet, 1 factor often overlooked is the hefty burden of administrative barriers facing mental health professionals along multiple points of the clinical practice continuum. Read the full article here

 

Citation

Zhu JM, Eisenberg M. Administrative Frictions and the Mental Health Workforce. JAMA Health Forum. 2024;5(3):e240207. doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.0207