Employers address mental health through benefits and mental health-friendly culture
Mental health and emotional wellbeing remain high on employers’ agendas
- #1 clinical area targeted to improve member health
- A top priority for 63% employers
Virtual care
Key delivery strategy for mental health services
| Action taken/Tactic used in 2023 | Planning for 2024 | Considering for 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual care | 83% | 6% | 4% |
| Primary care | 52% | 6% | 6% |
| Digital therapeutics | 34% | 6% | 9% |
| Onsite/Near-site facilities | 24% | 3% | 8% |
| Centers of excellence | 18% | 4% | 11% |
| At-home services | 13% | 2% | 7% |
Key finding
Employers prioritize mental health navigation and tailored vendor solutions
Improve mental health
Promote mental health-friendly culture and ensure parity compliance
| Action taken/Tactic used in 2023 | Planning for 2024 | Considering for 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct mental health parity audit | 39% | 14% | 10% |
| Partner with employee resource groups to address mental health issues | 37% | 11% | 10% |
| Eliminate cost sharing for virtual care visits | 26% | 5% | 11% |
| Evaluate mental health network to ensure diverse representation | 20% | 14% | 13% |
| Provide mental health day(s) off | 18% | 3% | 14% |
| Expand disability coverage | 11% | 5% | 8% |
| Eliminate cost sharing for in-network visits | 9% | 4% | 12% |
| Reduce/Eliminate cost sharing for out-of-network visits | 6% | 4% | 6% |
Enhance emotional wellbeing
Through behavioral health strategy, training and measurement
Top actions taken in 2023
- 85% address stigma and increase employee understanding
- 69% take actions to build employee resilience
- 61% take actions to support dependents with behavioral health issues
Key delivery strategy for emotional wellbeing
| Action taken/Tactic used in 2023 | Planning for 2024 | Considering for 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train managers to identify employees’ emotional health issues | 52% | 17% | 13% |
| Have an organization-wide behavioral health strategy/action plan | 47% | 16% | 13% |
| Increase access to outpatient treatment for substance abuse | 27% | 7% | 12% |
| Address prescription medication/coverage for serious mental illness diagnoses | 22% | 5% | 13% |
| Implement a measurement strategy to track mental health outcomes | 19% | 15% | 16% |
Actions to take now!
- Create an organization-wide behavioral health strategy and establish a framework for measuring outcomes.
- Provide training for managers to lead with empathy and to identify mental health and substance use disorder issues.
- Explore ways to improve mental healthcare through virtual care, primary care integration and digital therapeutics.
- Perform a comprehensive mental health parity audit and implement measures to ensure compliance.
- Ensure accessibility and affordability of mental health services.
About the survey: A total of 457 employers participated in the 2023 Best Practices in Healthcare Survey, which was conducted in June and July 2023. Respondents employ 7.3 million employees.
