Every consequential election brings change and with it, the risk that uncertainty will lead to paralysis and delay. But our nation is facing a mental health crisis, and a change in administration cannot distract from solutions to increase access to high-quality mental health care that are  available today. 

Yes, behavioral health faces a host of novel challenges. But change also creates opportunities to drive improvement and focus. It also brings with it a responsibility to educate policymakers that mental health conditions are treatable and that innovative data-driven solutions have never been more readily available.

As we have learned working in both red states and blue states, mental health remains one of the few bipartisan issues. Even in highly polarized political environments, leaders from both sides of the aisle recognize the urgent need for accessible, high-quality mental health care. 

In Texas, that urgency translated into the largest investment in behavioral health by any legislature in American history – more than $11 billion to support innovation, research, and a full continuum of treatment options. In California, it led to a once-in-a-generation set of treatment reforms championed by Governor Newsom and a mental health parity law serving as a model for the nation.

The federal landscape is no different. Take, for example, the Make American Healthy Again Caucus. A key group of healthcare decision-makers is already signaling a focus on issues integral to behavioral health innovation: bolstering primary care, spurring telehealth and tech-supported clinical care, and driving efficiency and effectiveness. It is difficult to envision priorities that are more tailor-made to accelerate behavioral health innovation. We should all be encouraged and motivated by the fact that now, more than ever before, we have data-driven innovative solutions to share. 

Take the psychiatric Collaborative Care Model, a primary care-based intervention that bolsters the reach and effectiveness of our behavioral health workforce by facilitating routine screening and the early detection and treatment of mental illnesses.

Considered the “gold standard” of integrated care, over 90 randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that collaborative care increases access to mental health care and is more effective and cost-efficient than the current standard of care for treating common mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression.  

Collaborative care cannot work without measurement-informed care. The two fit together hand-in-glove. Measurement-informed care is a clinical process that uses standardized, valid, repeated measurements to track a client’s progress over time and inform treatment. It has been shown to enhance treatment decision-making, detect changes in illness symptoms and severity, result in faster symptom reduction, reduce dropout, and improve outcomes.

Behavioral health measurement is fundamental to moving us forward. We simply cannot accept a behavioral health system that fails to measure the efficacy and efficiency of its treatments. Measurement allows states and health systems to be confident that they are using their resources wisely, allows providers to gauge the effectiveness of their interventions, and allows systems to take action when results aren’t there. Ultimately, it holds all stakeholders accountable for delivering quality and effective mental health services.  

Further, technology enables busy clinicians, clinical practices and systems to have a deeper understanding of patient mental health conditions on an individual and population level. Take, for example, Aurora Mental Health and Recovery in Colorado. After Aurora decided to comprehensively implement measurement-informed care using a digital tool from NeuroFlow, it saw dramatically faster progress toward remission, fewer no-shows for client services, increased capacity because people were getting better faster, and significant cost reductions.

It is easy to become overwhelmed by the pace of change, but the good news is that there is a strong interest in the solutions we are advancing. We have the responsibility to engage and seize these opportunities to educate policymakers and influencers so that more of us and our loved ones can access high-quality mental health services in the future. 

‍Kacie Kelly is the chief innovation officer at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. 

John Snook is the chief policy officer at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.