New Collab Aims to Improve Virtual Mental Health Services for Medicaid Patients

To bolster virtual mental health services for Medicaid enrollees, Brave Health and MedArrive have created a referral partnership that provides both telemental healthcare and in-person home healthcare by combining the services and provider networks of the two organizations.

Medicaid beneficiaries often struggle with issues surrounding access, particularly for mental healthcare. In 2018, 50 percent of beneficiaries with serious mental illness said they did not receive the treatment they needed, according to a 2021 report by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission. This can lead to adverse mental health outcomes.

Further, the number of psychiatrists that accept Medicaid dropped to about 35 percent in 2014-15.

Through the collaboration, Brave Health and MedArrive intend to extend and improve behavioral health services for Medicaid populations. Brave Health will provide access to behavioral healthcare virtually while MedArrive will support this access through its provider network that includes emergency medical services professionals.

 Suppose, after performing an initial review of a Medicaid beneficiary, MedArrive providers believe behavioral health support is needed. In that case, they will connect the patient with Brave Health providers, who will then be able to assist the patient.

Further, if Brave Health determines that a Medicaid patient requires home health services, it will work with the health plan's case management team to connect the patient with MedArrive.

"Mental health is one of the most important social determinants of health, and many of the populations MedArrive encounters have the least access to high-quality care," said Megan Thomasch, MD, MedArrive's vice president of clinical operations, in the press release. "By integrating with Brave Health, we're confident that we can not only improve the health and well-being of those we care for, but we also can help our health plan partners reduce the cost of higher-acuity care."

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for virtual behavioral health services has increased sharply. In January, the FAIR Health Monthly Telehealth Regional tracker revealed that for the third month in a row, mental health conditions were the most common telehealth diagnosis.

Many organizations have engaged in strategies and collaborations to keep up with the high demand for virtual mental health services.

In March, St. Peter’s Health Partners (SPHP), a nonprofit healthcare network, worked with aptihealth to implement virtual behavioral health services. The health system created the service to meet the high demand for mental healthcare within SPHP.

In July, the Helmsley Charitable Trust extended a large grant to NYC Health + Hospitals to expand telemental health services. The health system will use the funding to implement mental health services within its existing virtual urgent care platform.