Treating both physical and mental health simultaneously can lead to better management of chronic conditions, reduced health care costs, and improved quality of life.¹

We are proud to collaborate with providers to help the people we serve achieve healthier outcomes. Our collaborative care programs can help increase behavioral health integration in the primary care setting and ensure your patients receive whole-person care at the right time and in the right setting.

Cigna Collaborative Care programs

Cigna Collaborative Care^® (CCC) programs work with providers to deliver coordinated, quality, and cost-efficient care for better health outcomes and savings. With the accountable care program, we connect providers and their patients with the right data, people, and clinical programs.

CCC programs also partner with providers to share best practices and launch and maintain initiatives to address behavioral health needs for diverse high-risk populations in their communities.

Additionally, these programs encourage providers to share best practices and inspire each other to take further action to integrate behavioral health for all patients, especially those with a disparity or social determinant that is impacting their overall health and opportunity to achieve their full health potential regardless of social, economic, or environmental circumstances.

Behavioral health integration

Behavioral health issues not only impact mental well-being but may also worsen physical health, leading to higher overall health care costs. These issues are often overlooked in the primary care setting, where physical and mental health are treated separately — and this separation can be costly and may result in poorer health outcomes.

There are several reasons to address behavioral health in the primary care setting:

• More than 1 in 5 US adults live with a mental illness.²
• Up to 75% of primary care visits include behavioral health components, such as chronic disease management; mental health issues; substance use; smoking or other tobacco use; and the impact of stress, diet, and exercise on health.³
• Depression rates have never been higher.⁴
• Adults with a behavioral health condition incur 2.8 to 6.2 times greater medical costs than those without one.⁵
• Integrated behavioral health services in adult primary care have been shown to result in clinically significant decreases in depressive and anxiety symptoms among patients with depressive and anxiety disorders.⁶

Behavioral health integration is an important component in CCC programs and we are here to help you support your patients who have behavioral health needs. During a recent meeting with provider groups that participate in a CCC program, two presenters shared their organizations’ efforts to address behavioral health in primary care practices.

• Dr. Luis Torres, Medical Director, Evernorth^® Health Services, provided an overview of collaborative care models designed for primary care settings to treat mental health conditions. The model tracks patients in a registry and uses measurement-based treatments to ensure goals are met.

• Carey Spain, Senior Director, Children’s Mercy Integrated Care Solutions, shared the practice’s integrated efforts with behavioral health organizations to bridge physical and behavioral health systems and improve care collaboration in the primary care setting.

Watch the presentation (52 minutes 18 seconds)

• Dr. Torres’ presentation begins at the start of the recording.
• Carey Spain’s presentation begins at 23 minutes 10 seconds.

Additional information

For details about the CCC program, email Karen Mateo.

1. United Providers of Health. “The Benefits of Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care.” United Providers of Health. 27 August 2024. Retrieved from https://upoh.org/2024/08/benefits-integrating-behavioral-health-into-primary-care/.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “About Mental Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 16 April 2024. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/learn/index.htm.

3. Sarina Schrager. “Integrating Behavioral Health Into Primary Care.” FPM. 2021. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/issues/2021/0500/p3.html#:~:text=Fully%20integrating%20behavioral%20health%20in,of%20the%20health%20care%20team.

4. Dan Witters. “U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs.” Gallup. 17 May 2023. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/505745/depression-rates-reach-new-highs.aspx.

5. Victoria Bailey. “Behavioral Health Treatment was Associated with Lower Healthcare Costs.” HealthPayerIntelligence. 06 December 2022. Retrieved from https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/behavioral-health-treatment-was-associated-with-lower-healthcare-costs.

6. American Psychological Association. “Behavioral Health Integration Fact Sheet.” June 2022. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/health/behavioral-integration-fact-sheet.