At the recent Becker’s Behavioral Health Summit, I had the opportunity to join a panel on navigating reimbursement challenges and share a perspective shaped by sitting on both sides of the healthcare table—first on the payer side in business development for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and now as the Chief Strategy Officer of Thriveworks, one of the largest behavioral health providers in the U.S.

This dual lens has made one thing especially clear: the future of behavioral health care hinges on deeper, more collaborative partnerships between payers and providers.

We’re at a Critical Inflection Point

Mental health is now the leading cause of disability in the U.S., yet there’s still no shared definition across our industry of what high-quality behavioral care looks like. At Thriveworks, we’re in-network with more than 155 payers, and in practice, that means navigating 155+ different interpretations of quality and value.

As long as we lack alignment on outcomes, it will remain difficult to scale solutions that truly drive wellness, support people stepping down from higher levels of care, and help people with long-term conditions.

The Solution: Data and Transparency

I believe we can change this by coming together around data and transparency. At Thriveworks, we’re actively measuring clinical outcomes through tools like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. We also have robust EMR data and track engagement trends.

But we know payers hold important pieces of the puzzle too, especially through claims data. We need to bring these datasets together to build a more complete view of quality and effectiveness. That means not only understanding how we move someone from severe symptoms into remission, but also how we keep them there with the right frequency and modality of care.

By combining our datasets, we can understand at scale the levers that drive both improvement in outcomes and reduce the total cost of care.

Care Continuity Requires Alignment

When someone is discharged from an inpatient setting, what matters most is whether they’re able to seamlessly transition to IOP or outpatient care, and whether those services are enough to keep them functioning and well.

That kind of coordination requires aligned incentives, where every part of the system is rewarded not just for showing up, but for the outcomes we deliver.

Reason for Hope

Across all of this work, what gives me hope is that we’re seeing more organizations come to the table in a spirit of collaboration. I truly believe that everyone in this industry cares deeply about doing the right thing. We all want to see parity realized and for people to get the treatment they need.

If we lean into that shared purpose, with aligned data, common definitions of quality, and a commitment to sustained care, we can build a system that delivers on its promise.

There’s no health without behavioral health. And there’s no progress without partnership.