When I moved to New York City in 2015, I tried to find a new therapist. After spending hours calling through lists of providers, I failed — for the same reason that more than four in 10 U.S. adults with a mental health condition don't get the mental health care they need: cost. I couldn't find a provider who was accessible to me, which meant they took my insurance.
This realization hit me hard, given that my previous therapist saved my life. I started to investigate the barriers that prevent patients from receiving care.
As it turns out, today's system makes even basic tasks for providers, like submitting a claim or getting paid, a herculean effort, leading to a majority of the nation's mental health providers choosing not to accept insurance. I began to think about the system. "Why don't providers take insurance?" I questioned. "Would they if it were easy?" Once I teamed up to begin solving this very problem, I realized just how deeply complex it was.
As various parties collectively aim to build a more effective, equitable and accessible mental health care system, we must recognize that providers are the lynchpin to driving these improvements. Imagine a world where mental health providers loved running a private practice that takes insurance. Collectively, we are not there yet. The mental healthcare system is not working because the system has not historically worked for providers.
While technology has transformed sectors of health care over the past decade, mental health providers have been left behind. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spearheaded the transition of doctors from paper to digital health records by providing incentive payments, technical assistance and federal guidance. Not qualifying as doctors, the vast majority of mental health providers were conspicuously excluded. Consequently, the mental health sector as a whole was largely deprived of the same support, assistance–and most importantly–invaluable insights that could have otherwise propelled advancements at scale.
This is just one example of systemic failure that has left mental health care providers at scale without the 21st-century tools and resources they need to succeed today, particularly in the context of growing demand for their services.
What does it look like to put mental health care providers at the center? It looks like making sure we build for their experience, too. One that is inclusive, transparent, empowering and respectful. I've never met a provider who trained as a clinician so they could do administrative work; they trained to help people get better. If we want providers to work within the systems we build, we must make it easy.
This is where I'm hopeful for the future. Technology can and does allow us to make processes more efficient. No longer needing to focus time on billing, credentialing or claims submission inspires providers for the first time in their career to accept insurance. And by accessing a client's clinical progress at the click of a button, secure for only the provider to see, allows them to be the best clinician they can be.
A new way is possible. We can, in fact, make our mental health care system work. To get there, it must work for providers.
As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month and look to the future, let's seat providers prominently at the proverbial table and invest in their success. Only then can we usher in a future where mental health care is truly equitable, accessible, and effective—for everyone. Without this, we will continue to fall short for the millions of other patients–like I did–who so desperately need care.
