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Assessing the Use of Data Systems to Estimate Return-on-Investment of Behavioral Healthcare Interventions: Opportunities and Barriers

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Abstract

To improve access to and quality of affordable behavioral healthcare, there is a need for more research to identify which interventions can generate long-term, societal return-on-investment (ROI). Barriers to ROI studies in the behavioral health sector were explored by conducting semi-structured interviews with individuals from key stakeholder groups at state and national behavioral health-related organizations. Limited operating budgets, state-based payer systems, the lack of financial support, privacy laws, and other unique experiences of behavioral health providers and patients were identified as important factors that affect the collection and utilization of data. To comprehensively assess ROI of interventions, it is necessary to improve standardization and data infrastructure across multiple health and non-health systems and clarify or address legal, regulatory, and commercial conflicts.

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Abbreviations

EHR:

Electronic health record

CCBHC:

Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic

CFR:

Code of Federal Regulations

HIPAA:

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

MCO:

Managed care organizations

ROI:

Return-on-investment

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Acknowledgements

We thank Disha Jariwala for assistance with transcribing interviews and Frankie Berger for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California, 635 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Hanke Heun-Johnson PhD, Michael Menchine MD, MPH & Seth Seabury PhD

  2. Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Hanke Heun-Johnson PhD

  3. National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 1400 K Street NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20005, USA

    Katiri V. Zuluaga LMSW, Shelley Starkey MPP & Rebecca Farley David MPH

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1200 N State Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Michael Menchine MD, MPH

  5. Department of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Seth Seabury PhD

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  1. Hanke Heun-Johnson PhD
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Correspondence to Hanke Heun-Johnson PhD.

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Conflict of Interest

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing was supported by unrestricted grants from Alkermes, Genoa Healthcare, and the New York Community Trust. The USC Schaeffer Center was supported by an unrestricted grant from Alkermes. Seth Seabury is a consultant to Precision Health Economics. The supporting sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Heun-Johnson, H., Zuluaga, K.V., Menchine, M. et al. Assessing the Use of Data Systems to Estimate Return-on-Investment of Behavioral Healthcare Interventions: Opportunities and Barriers. J Behav Health Serv Res 50, 80–94 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-022-09794-4

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