Share ThisHighmark Health’s Living Health strategy connects payers, providers, tech innovators, and community organizations to build a better health ecosystem and take on the industry’s most difficult challenges. One of those challenges is the mental and behavioral health crisis.
“Mental and behavioral health has been an issue for many years, but I think the pandemic unveiled how detrimental it really was,” says Anil Singh, MD, MPH, MMM, senior vice president, executive medical director, Population and Curated Health for Highmark Health. “It made us recognize a major barrier: access to care.”
In this article, Dr. Singh and Doug Henry, PhD, clinical psychologist and vice president for Enterprise Behavioral Health at Highmark Health, share the organization’s strategy for expanding access, reducing stigma and improving quality of care for mental and behavioral health.
Catherine Clements: Let’s start with our why. Why is Highmark Health prioritizing mental and behavioral health as part of the Living Health strategy?
Dr. Doug Henry: Our differentiator as an enterprise is this notion of whole-person health — bringing together physical, mental and social health and care. While mental health is a very substantial component of that, it’s unfortunately often underestimated. We increasingly recognize the interconnectedness of mental and physical health, underscoring the importance each has on the other.
One of the reasons that I joined the organization was the profound awareness of the impact of underdiagnosed and undertreated mental health disorders. When I started, I was told to go out and hire as many of the best psychiatrists and psychologists as I could find. There aren’t too many enterprises that would give a new vice president that kind of freedom and mission. It was very refreshing to be at an organization that recognizes the significance of mental health.
Catherine Clements: Mental health is a complex issue to address. Dr. Singh, where as an organization are we turning our focus?
Dr. Anil Singh: As part of our Living Health strategy, we’re developing an integrated approach to mental and behavioral health that focuses on three pillars: improving access, reducing stigma, and improving overall quality of care.
Within that framework, we’re focused on putting behavioral health at parity with physical health. We believe that mental health is just as important as physical health, and therefore we should make the cost similar. It’s worth making mental and behavioral health support more affordable.
Dr. Doug Henry: We’re also focused on earlier intervention so that our patients and members can preserve wellness as opposed to respond to illness. To achieve that, we are pulling together our mental health clinicians, primary and specialty care providers, pharmacies and even supporting business operations, because all these stakeholders play a part in the integrated mental health strategy.
Emily Mashore: Access is the key component of our approach. Can you give an example as to how Highmark Health is expanding access to mental health services?
Dr. Doug Henry: To make mental health care more accessible within our provider system, we must meet people where they are. That means bringing mental health services into schools and in the community with mobile units. That also means embedding mental health providers across primary care and specialty care like OB/GYN, pain treatment, endocrinology, etc. We must deliver mental health care in a way that’s convenient and builds on the positive transference of the relationship a patient has with their provider. We can facilitate the best possible mental health through a patient’s recovery or maintenance of wellness.
Dr. Anil Singh: In January 2024, we launched Mental Well-Being powered by Spring Health. What’s unique about this mental and behavioral health solution is the ability to personalize care and deliver that care in the way that a member chooses. Whether that be digital content, virtual visits or brick-and-mortar, this is a manifestation of Living Health.
This offering has enabled us to expand the number of access points to mental health care by 40% to health plan members six years and older. Spring Health also guarantees visits between three to five days. In the U.S., that’s unheard of, so getting that access quickly is huge.
Catherine Clements: Why did Highmark Health decide to partner with Spring Health?
Dr. Doug Henry: The reason we chose Spring Health as our partner is because of their absolute differentiating quality — and the quality comes from the way that they train and prune their network. Spring Health offers exclusively measurement-based care and evidence-based treatments. Psychometrics are given at baseline and then reapplied periodically to ensure that adequate progress is being made. If it's not being made, then the treatment plan is altered.
Dr. Anil Singh: Additionally, what I love about our partnership and this solution is that patients can pick and choose who they want to receive their care from, whether that be specialty, gender, ethnicity or language. You now have both the ability of high-quality physicians and that personalization piece.
Catherine Clements: How are you measuring the impact of this solution?
Dr. Anil Singh: There are a few data points we’re assessing in the short and long-term. Within the initial rollout, two measurements of success are engaged members and the number of appointments scheduled. As of April 2024, more than 20,000 members have registered for Mental Well-being powered by Spring Health with over 17,000 appointments scheduled. As we continue to get more data and members engage on the platform, we’ll be assessing health outcomes. For example, did a patient improve over time after an intervention based on a PHQ-9 for depression or GAD-7 for anxiety? We’re working closely with our insights validation team and Spring Health to assess the data and impact monthly.
Then over a 12-month view, we’ll measure total cost of care. I’m very confident that we’ll show a positive result. If it’s a good experience, members tend to engage and sustain engagement over time.
Dr. Doug Henry: As a behavioral health professional watching programs like this roll out for 20-some years, this is one of the best I’ve seen. Spring Health provides really low-friction, rapid access to the types of services that a patient is looking for, but they also pay a lot of attention to what type of patient they’re caring for. They have invested a lot in their matching and triage processes to really personalize each experience.
Emily Mashore: The mental health crisis is not something we can solve alone. How are we working with community partners like the Richard King Mellon Foundation?
Dr. Anil Singh: The Foundation recognizes the importance of behavioral health, which is why they gave us a grant to support the anti-stigma “How’s It Going?” campaign. This enabled us to take an agnostic approach to reducing stigma, giving people in our community an opportunity to have a platform to anonymously share experiences and route them to appropriate care if needed.
Funding from the Foundation also enabled us to leverage League to integrate Mental Well-Being powered by Spring Health in the health plan’s digital front door, My Highmark.
Dr. Doug Henry: Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), also supported by the Foundation, is also helping us to reduce stigma. According to the NIH, one in three adults do not regularly get the recommended uninterrupted sleep they need to protect their health.
Since so many people face poor sleep quality, there is an ease of conversation around, “I don’t sleep well.” This treatment can be equally as effective for people with anxiety or depression as CBT-A or CBT-D would, so it becomes a conduit toward mental and behavioral health versus just insomnia.
The Foundation recognizes that we face a mental health epidemic in this country and there are barriers to accessing treatment. The theme running through all these projects is to figure out what these barriers are and how to solve for them. These are difficult problems to solve, so we are grateful for their support.
Catherine Clements: The last pillar I want to touch on is how we’re increasing quality of care for mental and behavioral health. Dr. Henry, can you tell me more?
Dr. Doug Henry: As an integrated delivery and finance system, we can take innovative approaches to mental health care delivery. By combining payer and provider data and collaborating more closely, we can test and learn from initiatives and extrapolate their impact on a larger scale. This collaboration provides an opportunity to explore leading-edge technology and service delivery system redesign, benefiting both providers and insurers and most importantly the members and patients.
One of the opportunities to improve care we’re focused on is follow-ups after a psychiatric hospitalization or emergency room visit. Our goal is to ensure that patients receive timely access to appropriate behavioral health care within three days of discharge. The collaboration between the health plan, clinicians, and administrative staff is a strong example of the seamless interaction between the enterprise and behavioral health specialists for rapid access to care.
Another example I’ll share is an intervention to flag members who recently had surgery that could benefit from mental health services. Through a team crossing multiple business units, we made a significant impact in just 18 months, reducing readmissions, connecting patients to mental health care, and lowering per member per month costs.
I can't wait to do that times fifty. We want to do so much more of that kind of work.
Emily Mashore: So, what’s next for Highmark Health’s mental and behavioral health strategy?
Dr. Anil Singh: We’re really excited about our partnership with Spring Health and the 14+ conditions they’ll help members manage. We’re working closely with them to align roadmaps and expand to treat for even more mental health conditions.
But we know it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. Members may need more specialized care for something like eating disorders or substance abuse, that isn’t currently available on the platform. We’re also mindful of the equity concern with members not having a smart phone to access a virtual platform.
Therefore, we’re not letting our foot off the gas to improve access and expand our network of providers and physical locations.
Dr. Doug Henry: That's right. We’re pedal to the metal on maximizing our partnership with Spring Health, guiding their future and making sure that our roadmaps align. But we have not stopped paying attention to solving gaps that our members experience in all areas of behavioral health.
When I hire a psychologist to work here, I don’t expect them to treat an entire manual of psychiatric disorders. A single provider cannot address all psychiatric needs. Therefore, we need to ensure we’re supporting the higher levels of acuity like intensive outpatient programming, partial hospitalization for psychiatry, inpatient hospitalization and specific conditions. For example, we refer patients and members to low friction solutions to increase access to specialized care for OCD with NOCD, opioid use disorder with Bicycle Health and offer intensive outpatient programming for teenagers through Charlie Health.
We never stop trying to simplify the member experience. We’re focused on making sure that we’re addressing the full gamut of psychiatric needs that our members and patients have.
What a joy it is to be at an enterprise with leaders that recognize the significance of behavioral health and overall wellness — and the central role that it must play in the Living Health strategy. I can't think of a more exciting place to be in the U.S. in behavioral health right now than Highmark Health.
Anil Singh, MD, MPH, MMM, is the senior vice president, executive medical director, population and curated health for Highmark Health, a $27 billion blended health organization that includes one of America's largest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers and a growing regional hospital and physician network. Based in Pittsburgh, PA, Highmark Health's 44,000 employees serve millions of customers nationwide through the nonprofit organization's affiliated businesses, including Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Insurance Group, United Concordia Dental, Helion and enGen.
Dr. Singh understands that taking care of a person encompasses a holistic approach including physical, mental and social aspects of care. He works closely with Highmark Health’s chief medical and clinical transformation officer to drive improvement in clinical outcomes that lead to reductions in total cost of care for high and rising risk populations in near and mid-term and invest in keeping lower risk populations healthy longer term. Dr. Singh leads a team of clinicians focused on developing solutions clinically validated by provider networks and integrating them into a holistic health plan member portal, My Highmark. Read more
Dr. Singh is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Neurocritical Care Medicine. He maintains his clinical practice and has expertise in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, and obstructive sleep apnea, and has been widely published in academic journals. He also helps manage patients who need a lung transplant and was key in establishing AHN’s lung transplant partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Before transitioning to Highmark Health in 2018, Dr. Singh served in a variety of roles for the provider system, Allegheny Health Network (AHN). This included founding and serving as the Director of the Breathing Disorders Center, Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship program, and Division Chief of Pulmonary/Critical Care/Allergy/Sleep medicine.
Dr. Singh also developed AHN’s virtual ICU program, which launched in 2019 and boosted AHN’s capacity to care for critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual ICU infrastructure established a foundation that allowed for the expansion of future virtual care initiatives at AHN and Highmark Health.
Dr. Singh first joined AHN in 2005 to complete his fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine. He is a graduate of Baylor University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in biology and his Master of Clinical Gerontology. He is also a graduate of the University of Texas Health Science Center where he received his Master of Public Health. He attended medical school at Ross University. Dr. Singh also holds a Master of Medical Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University.
He completed his residency in internal medicine at Aultman Hospital, where he served as chief medical resident. He completed his Critical Care medicine fellowship with UPMC.
Doug Henry, PhD, is vice president and medical director of Enterprise Behavioral Health at Highmark Health, a $29 billion national, blended health organization that includes one of America’s largest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers and a growing regional hospital and physician network. Based in Pittsburgh, Pa., Highmark Health’s 44,000 employees serve millions of customers nationwide through the nonprofit organization’s affiliated businesses, including Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Insurance Group, United Concordia Dental and enGen.
In his current role, Dr. Henry leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive enterprise mental behavioral health strategy focused on improving access, reducing stigma, and improving overall quality of mental behavioral health care. He is committed to addressing the full spectrum of mental health needs, from early intervention and prevention to specialized care for complex conditions.
Dr. Henry is a clinical psychologist licensed in Pennsylvania and California and brings over 20 years of experience in professional applied psychology including inpatient, outpatient, and administrative assignments.
Attracted by the integrated payer-provider model, and emphasis on patient-centered treatment, Dr. Henry initially joined the enterprise as a vice president for AHN Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Institute in 2017.
Prior to joining AHN, Dr. Henry served as clinical administrator at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic for UPMC Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services, the UPMC Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, and the UPMC Center for Eating Disorders.
Dr. Henry’s interests focus on providing broader access to the highest quality services for adults and families coping with mental illness and/or developmental challenges.
Want to learn more about Highmark Health's work to create a remarkable health experience through its Living Health strategy? Check out our Living Health Insights and Updates gallery page. Powered by UpContent, our gallery page provides a curated, regularly updated set of some of the best available articles, interviews, webinars, and other content about Living Health and related developments in our industry.
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