title: Prevalence And Spending Associated With Patients Who Have A Behavioral Health Disorder And Other Conditions.
abstract: People with multiple medical conditions are a growing and increasingly costly segment of the U.S.
  
  
  
  Despite the co-occurrence of physical and behavioral health comorbidities, the US health care system tends to treat these conditions separately rather than holistically. To identify opportunities for population health improvement, we examined the treated prevalence of and health care spending on behavioral health disorders, by the number of coexisting physical disorders, among noninstitutionalized adults. The vast majority (85 percent) of spending was attributed to treatment of the physical comorbidities. Only 15 percent was attributed to treatments of the behavioral disorders; of these, a primary diagnosis of depression was most common, seen in 57 percent of the sample. These findings suggest the potential to improve outcomes and reduce spending by applying collaborative care models more broadly. Policies should promote payment and delivery reforms that advance the integration of behavioral health and primary care.
authors.affiliation: Ken Thorpe is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thorpe
authors.affiliation: Sanjula Jain (sanjula.jain@emory.edu) is a doctoral student in health services research and health policy, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
authors.forename: Sanjula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Peter Joski is a senior associate in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Joski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity / Q000639:trends; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000379:methods; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care
keywords: Health Spending; Mental Health/Substance Abuse