HOW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INCOME WILL BE DETERMINED BY CLINICAL OUTCOMES

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Tobias Rich
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1 HOW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INCOME WILL BE DETERMINED BY CLINICAL OUTCOMES April 2016 By Dr. William Bithoney, MD, FAAP BDO Conslting Managing Director & Chief Physician Exective Reimbrsement changes are transforming the behavioral health marketplace. As insrance payers aggressively shift toward valebased payments that emphasize vale over volme, the focs on otcomes has intensified across the entire healthcare spectrm. Otcomes will increasingly dictate income going forward, forcing behavioral health providers to re examine their approach to patient care and raising new qestions for investors seeking acqisitions. Reglatory Actions Forcing New Approaches The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Eqity Act (MHPAEA), combined with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), have forced insrers to become more active participants in addressing the growing problem of behavioral health in the U.S. Research shows that more than 18 percent of the poplation sffers from mental health isses and 9.8 percent have addiction problems. The Federal Sbstance Abse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that $228 billion will be spent on behavioral health and sbstance abse treatment in the U.S. in 2016, and that nmber will rise to $280 billion by MHPAEA mandates that insrers treat mental health and sbstance se disorder isses with the same sense of rgency as other health isses. Insrers that fail to do so face penalties and the potential for lawsits. New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has challenged nmeros insrers who failed to follow new mental health parity rles, winning five settlements to date. MHPAEA has also shifted the treatment approach away from inpatient care and toward more integrated efforts that inclde primary care physicians. Shifting More Risk and Accontability to Providers Integrated care models, sch as accontable care organizations (ACOs), are pshing a greater level of risk from insrers onto providers a movement that is well nderway for managed care organizations, bt is relatively new in the behavioral health space. Collaboration among providers is essential to the sccess of ACOs, which are taking on broader responsibilities for the entire episode of patient care. Primary care doctors and behavioral health providers mst

2 join forces to ensre there is continos follow p in treating patients with longterm illnesses sch depression. Providers are accepting greater financial risks, facing penalties if care fails to meet specified targets, bt are rewarded with bonses when they can demonstrate both lower cost and high qality; evidence-based target metrics are a key qality proof point. ACOs have grown increasingly poplar in recent years as an approach to managing poplation health, one of the defining aspects of the Affordable Care Act. In 2010, ACOs were nonexistent; today, there are more than 700. Oliver Wyman estimates that 52 million patients, or 17 percent of the poplation, are in ACOs today. Factoring in the additional 20 million patients nder Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which have risk-based contracts similar to ACOs, the nmber of patients nder risk-based contract plans climbs to 72 million. The exponential growth of these models is a force that can t be denied and is laying the grondwork for ftre change. Another powerfl force leading the shift to vale- or risk-based payment contracts is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has rolled ot a series of new payment models to reach its goal of tying 85 percent of payments to valebased otcomes by Similar changes are starting to happen within state-level Medicaid programs as well. New York state has pledged to move 90 percent of its Medicaid payments to risk-based contracts by 2018, stating it will only pay for high qality and evidence-based treatments. While only arond 15 percent of providers crrently have risk-based contracts, that nmber is expected to triple over the next year and contine to rapidly gain speed. Emphasizing Otcomes As the market works ot how exactly to qantify vale and qality, some otcome measres are starting to make their way into insrance contracts. The Perceptions of Care (POC) scale is srfacing as a way to measre patient satisfaction with crrent behavioral health providers. To track otcomes, insrers are specifying Beck, PHQ 2 and PHQ-9 depression scales, for example. Depression is likely to become a particlarly big focs in contracts following the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force annoncement in Janary 2016 that primary care doctors shold screen everyone 18 and older for depression. Once the Preventative Services Task Force makes a recommendation, it almost immediately is translated as a mandate into commercial insrance contracts as well as CMS contracts. Spending Increasing: SAMHSA Projects 5.8% CAGR , $228 Billion in 2016 Historical Projections Diagnosis Spending (billions$) All-health total 2, , , , , , , , , , , ,337.7 Mental and sbstance se disorders Mental Health Sbstance se disorders Share of all-health (%) Mental and sbstance se disorders Mental health Sbstance se disorders Annal growth (%) All-health total Mental and sbstance se disorders Mental Health Sbstance se disorders Share of mental and sbstance se treatment spending (%) Mental and sbstance se disorders Mental health Sbstance se disorders Sorce: SAMHSA Spending Estimates - Projections for

3 Accontants Consltants Doctors In 2010, ACOs were nonexistent; today, there are more than 700. It won t be long before there are clear standot performers that can prove high qality, low cost reslts. Insrers and ACOs alike will be evalating the market for these winners and narrowing their networks to direct patients to those providers. Some of the criteria that will be sed to narrow the field of preferred behavioral health providers inclde: Patient satisfaction with doctor, behavioral health provider and system Mortality and Morbidity by diagnosis and risk profile Adherence to cost-saving, high qality evidence-based techniqes sch as cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral software and apps, and telepsychiatry Length of stay and readmission rates Laboratory tilization: excessive testing by diagnosis Use of clinical practice gidelines A Sense Of Hopeflness Rate of relapse post addiction is similar to other chronic diseases Percent of patients who relapse 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 40-60% ADDICTION TREATMENT DOES WORK 30-50% 50-70% 50-70% Drg Dependence Type 1 Diabetes Hypertension Asthma McLellan, A.T. et al., JAMA, Vol 284(13), October 4, 2000 Providers based in metropolitan service areas (MSAs) where there are three or fewer insrers approximately 100 of the 190 MSAs crrently shold be especially attentive to this trend and the potential impact to their bsiness. The impact is likely to be frther exacerbated by the massive market consolidation of private health insrers across the contry. To thrive, behavioral health providers mst have a thorogh nderstanding of their cost of care, demonstrate proof of their vale by tracking otcomes and embracing evidence-based target metrics, and consider partnerships in integrated networks or ACOs. Focsing on Evidence-Based Treatment Evidence-based treatment will become an increasingly important selling point for all healthcare providers. However, it will be a particlarly big change in the behavioral health field, where the se of nproven therapies has led to a sense that sbstance abse and behavioral health treatment doesn t work. Research shows this isn t tre the rate of relapse for addiction and behavioral health disorders is qite similar to that of other chronic diseases: Why aren t there better reslts? Research pblished by Norcross et al. in the Jornal of Addiction Medicine in 2011 qeried 350 sbstance abse experts on the validity of 59 potential treatments for alcohol and sbstance abse patients. Only five of those treatments were considered most credible; 21 were discredited, yet many of those models are still actively employed today (althogh they may not be reimbrsed mch longer). The research pointed to wide disagreement in the field as to the best corse of treatment. That begs the qestion: what does work? There is a wealth of research pointing to effective corses of treatment for alcohol and sbstance abse. One of the most dramatically sccessfl corses of action is Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral

4 Payment For Brief Intervention Reimbrsement Gide Payer Code Description Fee Commercial Insrance CPT CPT Alcohol and/or sbstance abse strctred screening and brief intervention services; 15 to 30 mintes Alcohol and/or sbstance abse strctred screening and brief intervention services; greater than 30 mintes $33.41 $65.51 Medicare G0396 G0397 Alcohol and/or sbstance abse strctred screening and brief intervention services; 15 to 30 mintes Alcohol and/or sbstance abse strctred screening and brief intervention services; greater than 30 mintes $29.42 $57.69 Medicaid H0049 Alcohol and/or drg screening $24.00 H0050 Alcohol and/or drg service, brief intervention, per 15 mintes $48.00 to Treatment (SBIRT) a 20- to 30-minte identification and intervention process that can occr in a primary care clinic. A stdy pblished in Drg and Alcohol Review in 2009 looked at 22 randomized control trials of SBIRT encompassing 2,784 patients. It showed that SBIRT lowered patients alcohol consmption by 15 percent, decreased hospitalizations by 50 percent and ct death rates by more than half. Cost savings were eqally tremendos, with the average cost arond $166. Increasingly, these and similar types of evidence-based treatments will be encoraged in reimbrsement agreements. While evidence-based treatments are gronded in research, the clinical expertise of the provider mst also be considered, along with the patient s willingness to participate in treatment. One of the major challenges with evidence-based treatments is the lack of integrated databases and information that has tracked patient otcomes to date; this won t be an acceptable excse going forward. Bsiness will increasingly be a factor of proven otcomes; tracking a patient s progress along their corse of treatment among varios providers will no longer be optional. Breeding Grond for Acqisitions Sbstance abse and behavioral health providers have become an active grond for mergers and acqisitions as the market works throgh a major transformation. Thomson Reters reported 31 deals in the sector going into Q the final cont for the year is likely to exceed the all-time high of 41 deals reached in Conditions are largely favorable for consolidation among behavioral health providers, inclding: A highly fragmented marketplace Acceptance of the need for behavioral health treatment, driving p demand for services Improved fnding for care, as mandated by the ACA and MHPAEA Reimbrsement changes that will drive more clear otcomes and evidence-based treatments Historically low capital costs Valation mltiples at a five-year high Major players sch as Acadia Healthcare, American Addiction Centers and Smmit Behavioral Health have been actively prsing acqisitions of qality behavioral health assets. Private eqity firms are showing increased interest in this space as well, as they consider where to spend more than $530 billion in finite-lived capital reserves. For the first time since 2013, there were more add-on deals than new platform investments among PE-backed deals in the sector. PE firms sch as Frazier Healthcare and Frontenac Company were especially active. Deal activity shold remain strong nearterm, with market vales peaking in However, qality assets are scarce. Among the key considerations acqirers are sing to evalate attractive targets in the behavioral health provider space are: Strong financial performance Experienced management team with a sccessfl track record Scalable sales and marketing with low patient acqisition cost Attractive payer mix and diversified client base Mlti-faceted growth strategy Evidence-based treatment program with licensed clinicians and qality care The new otcomes-focsed environment will force investors to analyze behavioral health providers with new qestions in mind: How is qality being defined, measred and vetted within organizations? Are clinicians sing proven therapies that deliver the most effective reslts?

5 Accontants Consltants Doctors How BDO Can Help Favorable Indstry Dynamics Attracting Strong Investor Interest The BDO Healthcare Center for Excellence & Innovation is devoted to helping healthcare organizations achieve optimal clinical and financial performance. LEGISLATIVE TAILWINDS INCREASED AWARENESS STEADY GROWTH IN VOLUME SIGNIFICANT BARRIERS TO ENTRY Behavioral health treatment as an essential benefit of ACO Parity Laws reqires health insrance plans to cover mental illness and sbstance se disorders Pblic awareness is at an all time high, with focsed media attention on celebrity health isses Enhanced Media Coverage Reslting in the de-stigmatization of treatment Steady growth in volmes and occpancy trends SAMHSA 2013 nmbers an estimated 22.7M persons aged 12 and older needed treatment, only 2.5M received treatment at a specialty facility High start-p costs Zoning, licensre and accreditation Clinical expertise Patient acqisition (referral sorces) especially patients with best insrance With deep healthcare expertise in financial, clinical, operational, data analytics and legal/ reglatory disciplines, we deliver researchbased insights, innovative approaches and vale-driven services to help gide efficient healthcare transformation to improve qality, lower the cost of care, and improve margins. In the behavioral health space, we can: Provide an integrated approach to clinical restrctring and evidence-based payments Provide the right strategic, clinical, qality and billing/coding approach to impact and grow an organization s revene Provide interim management services and risk stratification to prepare an organization for poplation health, bndled payments and ACO collaboration Work with program exectives interested in either strategic partnerships or private eqity acqisition Provide capital, program valation and de diligence on both the by and sell sides throgh or investment bank, BDO Capital Sorce: The Braff Grop

6 Driving the Ftre of Healthcare The BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence & Innovation nites recognized indstry thoght leaders to provide sstainable soltions across the fll spectrm of healthcare challenges facing organizations, stakeholders and commnities. Leveraging deep healthcare experience in financial, clinical, data analytics and reglatory disciplines, we deliver research-based insights, innovative approaches and vale-driven services to help gide efficient healthcare transformation to improve the qality and lower the cost of care. For more information, please visit healthcareblog.bdo.com Accontants Consltants Doctors CONTACT: PATRICK PILCH, CPA, MBA Managing Director & National Healthcare Advisory Leader BILL BITHONEY, MD, FAAP Managing Director & Chief Physician Exective Abot BDO USA BDO is the brand name for BDO USA, LLP, a U.S. professional services firm providing assrance, tax, advisory and conslting services to a wide range of pblicly traded and privately held companies. For more than 100 years, BDO has provided qality service throgh the active involvement of experienced and committed professionals. The firm serves clients throgh 63 offices and more than 450 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As an independent Member Firm of BDO International Limited, BDO serves mlti-national clients throgh a global network of 1,408 offices in 154 contries. BDO USA, LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership, is the U.S. member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by garantee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms. BDO is the brand name for the BDO network and for each of the BDO Member Firms. For more information please visit: People who know Healthcare, know BDO. Material discssed is meant to provide general information and shold not be acted on withot professional advice tailored to yor firm s individal needs BDO USA, LLP. All rights reserved.

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM Executive Summary

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM Exective Smmary Jointly sponsored by Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center, Arizona State University and Project for Arizona s Ftre On Sept. 16, 2008, more than 100