Objective: The authors sought to describe the early use of collaborative care model (CoCM) and general behavioral health integration (BHI) billing codes among clinicians.
Methods: Counts and payments were calculated for accepted and denied claims for CoCM and general BHI services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide in 2017-2018. Payment and utilization data were stratified by clinical specialty and site of service.
Results: Overall, 10,294 CoCM and general BHI services were delivered in 2017, totaling $626,292 in payments, and 81,433 CoCM and general BHI services were delivered in 2018, totaling $7,442,985 in payments. Medicare denied 5% of services in 2017 and 32% in 2018. Most CoCM and general BHI services were delivered by primary care physicians in office-based settings.
Conclusions: This study of codes designed to promote BHI revealed an eightfold increase in CoCM and general BHI use between 2017 and 2018. However, denied services represent a barrier, and use among eligible beneficiaries remains low.
Keywords: Behavioral health integration; Collaborative care model; Health care reform; Primary care.