Proactive Care | Part 4: How Pager’s After Care Connects Members to Behavioral Health and Closes Gaps in Care

In Part 4 of our Proactive Care series, we share how Pager guides and connects members to the right behavioral health provider and closes care gaps with personalized, proactive engagement. 

In today's healthcare landscape, limited access to behavioral health providers continues to leave millions of Americans feeling unseen, unheard, and often resorting to emergency rooms for care. In fact, about 150 million Americans live in an area with a shortage of mental health professionals. Recognizing this critical need, Pager is transforming behavioral health navigation and closing care gaps through proactive care engagement and risk management. With an end-to-end behavioral health navigation solution and a comprehensive approach to care gap closure, Pager ensures that members receive the right support at the right time, personalized to their unique health risk profile.

1) Navigating Behavioral Health

Pager's proactive approach to behavioral health navigation begins with comprehensive risk assessments and empathetic guidance led by digital nurse navigators. By understanding each member's clinical profile and preferences, Pager connects each person to the most appropriate care solution based on their needs, whether it's in-person BH providers, virtual providers, or other digital care programs within their health plan benefits.

The key to Pager's success lies in its proactive, connected care model, which delivers AI-enabled personalized solutions all within a united ecosystem. Members experiencing high stress and anxiety can first engage with well-being resources available online, such as "Managing Your Stress" or "Building Resilience," two of  the 33 Digital Self-Guided Programs on the Pager platform. For members diagnosed with a mental health condition but who haven't engaged with a BH provider, Pager's data-driven triggered events prompt nurse navigators to connect with them through their preferred channel. This empathetic support then guides members toward the next best actions for their well-being. 

In the past year, Pager's virtual behavioral health navigation program successfully connected 32% of members to virtual BH providers and 68% to in-person BH providers, with an average NPS score of 88. 

2) Closing Gaps in Care

Recognizing the growing concern of rising care gaps due to member disengagement, Pager offers a sustainable  solution that incorporates gaps-in-care data from health plans into member profiles. Leveraging AI-assisted and personalized engagement, Pager generates recommended next-best actions to effectively close these care gaps. In addition, Pager's approach goes beyond gap closure; it embraces a holistic perspective by providing personalized health solutions for the entire member population.

Pager’s comprehensive Gap Closure program has delivered notable results. In 2021, closure rates ranged from a 15% increase to an impressive 110% increase depending on the gap in care.  Members who digitally opted into the Gap Closure program achieved a 20% higher closure rate than those who did not opt in. A particularly striking example is the closure rate for colorectal screenings, where members who opted in digitally closed colorectal exams more than twice as often as those who did not.

Pager's transformative impact on behavioral health navigation and care-gap closure is making a significant impact in the lives of members and on total cost of care savings.  By providing end-to-end BH navigation solutions, Pager ensures members are connected to appropriate care settings in a timely fashion based on their unique needs. Additionally, our proactive approach to care-gap closure leverages AI-assisted and personalized engagement to drive positive health outcomes for the entire population. Pager's empathetic support, digital accessibility, and holistic health solutions are setting a new standard to deliver value-driven healthcare.  

References 

1 Weiner, S., By, Weiner, S., Writer, S. S., & 9, Aug. (2022a, August 9). A growing psychiatrist shortage and an enormous demand for mental health services. AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/news/growing-psychiatrist-shortage-enormous-demand-mental-health-services