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CHIA has published its latest dashboard of metrics to monitor the performance of behavioral health care in the Commonwealth.
Behavioral health care encompasses an array of services that can meaningfully shape patient outcomes and form the foundation for a well-performing health care system. Behavioral health care includes services and treatment for both mental health (MH) and substance use disorders (SUD).
CHIA’s Behavioral Health Dashboard provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of behavioral health care in Massachusetts. Measuring and tracking indicators of behavioral health care provides an essential fact base that enables data-driven policymaking and delivery system reforms.
The dashboard measures the state of behavioral health care in the Commonwealth across 5 key areas: access, finance, utilization, quality, and equity. Key findings show improvement in some areas of behavioral health services, although disparities persist:
- More families had an unmet behavioral health need because of cost in 2023, hitting Hispanic families hardest.
- The portion of overall health care spending going to behavioral health care remained relatively stable from 2022 to 2023 while residents’ out-of-pocket burden declined. At the same time, about 1 in 6 people paid the entire cost of their most recent mental health visit without reimbursement from insurance.
- In 2023, there was an increase in follow-up care for patients who were hospitalized for mental illness but a decrease in follow-up care for those who went to the emergency department for mental health care.
- Inpatient discharges and emergency department visits for opioid use have both steadily declined from 2021 to 2023.
- The average length of emergency department visits for patients with a behavioral health condition decreased in 2023, as fewer visits resulted in a stay longer than 12 or 24 hours.
An interactive Tableau workbook is also available and includes additional data stratifications for exploration. To see all key findings from this year’s metrics, go to https://www.chiamass.gov/behavioral-health-in-massachusetts.
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