The COVID-19 crisis created challenges for delivering care while also causing widespread loss, isolation, and economic disruption, adding more stress and anxiety to people’s lives. Dr. Frank Webster, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer of behavioral health for Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, recently discussed helping members get services during the pandemic, as well as the latest developments in improving access to care and support in the future.
- The goal towards better outcomes: Many people will seek professional help for mental health needs at some point, and experts say addressing these needs plays an important part in our physical health and overall well-being. ”My goal is to make things work better and make sure people get needed services. There are more than 400 employees and an operational budget of probably $55 million. If we were a carve-out, we would be about the third- or fourth-largest behavioral health operation in the country”, Dr. Frank said.
- Active engagement: BCBS is actively engaged with so many areas of the company, including analytics, service delivery, and government programs. Visits for all 2020 outpatient visits, — which include those for mood disorders, anxiety, and substance use — trend upward from about 266,000 in January to more than 314,000 in October.
- A miraculous change: The provider community made an almost miraculous change from the way it had provided care. It was out of necessity for people needing services, and providers needed to keep seeing people safely. Providers who had never done a virtual visit in their careers figured out a way to do it.
- Virtual convenience: Telehealth is a huge convenience for people, safety issues aside. Roughly half the visits are face-to-face now, half the visits are virtual. “More people are keeping their virtual appointments than those scheduling face-to-face visits. If you increase appointment efficiency, you improve capacity. Virtual visits have allowed more people to be seen, or helped people be seen more frequently”, She said.
- Impact of medication: “When I’m seeing patients, one of the things I ask them about is medications. A lot of chronically mentally ill people have diabetes. If you don’t take an interest in medications and physical health, you’re missing a huge part of what needs to happen for people. I’m a big believer that mental and physical health are connected and should be connected, especially in understanding that sometimes medications impact how people are feeling or thinking”, explained the behavioral health specialist.
