Delivering a full and effective continuum of behavioral health is one of the toughest responsibilities for any state government. Beneficiaries and their families want services to be better. Legislators want delivery to be more cost-effective. Clinicians want patients to better prioritize their treatments. With so many competing needs, state behavioral health officials are under intense pressure. There is no room for wasted resources or false steps.
The reality is that every behavioral health agency struggles with the design, finance, implementation and outcome measurement of delivering the right services to the right people at the right times.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to these challenges, but carefully tailored solutions can deliver fixes to specific problems. The key for state agencies is to get out of "crisis-response-crisis" cycle and instead leverage a strategic framework with the power to resolve difficult issues as they arrive.
Originally published 16 February 2023
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