Behavioral Health in Value-Based Care: Building for Complexity Without Stalling Progress

Value-based care (VBC) has reshaped the healthcare landscape, tying payments to outcomes rather than volume. But while VBC models have made steady gains in primary care, cardiology, and chronic disease management, behavioral health (BH) has lagged behind.

The issue is not lack of commitment. Medicaid agencies, commercial plans and community providers recognize the need. The challenge lies in behavioral health’s complexity: subjective outcome measurement, fragmented provider ecosystems and comorbidities that blur clinical and social care boundaries.

If stakeholders wait for perfect metrics and fully integrated data systems, behavioral health will remain siloed, driving higher downstream costs and reinforcing a two-tiered system. Progress requires building forward now, accepting iteration as part of the process.

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