New Research Center Study Finds Benefits from Treating Previously Unmet Behavioral Health Needs

A new white paper co-authored by researchers at VNS Health highlights early results from a pilot designed to proactively identify and treat previously unmet behavioral health needs in clinically complex Medicare Advantage members. Led by Miriam Ryvicker, PhD, Director of Research Translation and Evaluation, the study is being conducted in partnership with Vitalic Health, a senior-focused behavioral health platform that VNS Health has enlisted to carry out the actual identification and treatment process.

The early results found that participants experienced significant improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms and showed encouraging trends around reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations. The pilot also identified a number of previously undiagnosed psychiatric conditions. These findings suggest that proactive, telehealth-enabled behavioral health care is both feasible and impactful for a Medicare Advantage population.

“Vitalic’s model demonstrates that we don’t have to wait for seniors with complex medical and behavioral health needs to fall into crisis,” notes Robert McAlonan, Director of Behavioral Health. “By proactively identifying high-risk members—especially those with multiple chronic conditions and untreated behavioral health needs—we can engage them earlier, stabilize them sooner, and prevent avoidable utilization. Scaling that capability across VNS Health could fundamentally transform how we manage risk and improve outcomes.” Check out the full white paper here.