2
Health
System Transformation
2024
HIGHLIGHTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
The Meadows Institute integrated high-quality mental health care into family practices, pediatricians’ offices, and other primary care settings. We also advanced programs to make high-quality specialty care far more accessible for people with more complex needs.
We are getting ever closer to a future when all Americans can access the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
9, 000 to14, 500
The number of lives that could be saved each year if every American with depression had access to collaborative care.
Championing Integrated Care
- To free every Texan from untreated depression and suicide, we increased the impact of our Lone Star Depression Challenge (LSDC). As a result of this bold initiative, more than 550,000 Texans got treated for depression and more than 120,000 Texans got better. Studies show that after six months of treatment with collaborative care, 49% of people with depression saw improvement in their symptoms, a marked increase over traditional care.
- The Meadows Institute partnered with Northwestern Medicine and West Health to accelerate the adoption of collaborative care across Northwestern University’s medical system. With this groundbreaking collaboration, more than 350,000 residents in Chicagoland will be able to access high-quality mental health care at their regular doctor’s office.
$40 Million
The amount we secured in additional funding to improve recovery from depression across the state and, increasingly, the country after leveraging Lyda HIll Philanthropies’ pioneering investment in LSDC.
Policy Update
We educated national organizations and members of Congress to advance the movement for integrated care. We also led a coalition in support of the bipartisan COMPLETE Care Act that, if passed, will expand mental health care access for tens of millions of people.
Chief Medical Officers Roshni Koli of the Meadows Institute and Christine Yu Moutier of the respected American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) co-published an op-ed in STAT News on how integrated care can prevent suicide by catching warning signs through early intervention.
What Gets Measured, Gets Done
For most medical conditions, doctors identify and address symptoms early, then monitor patients closely over time. This approach is called measurement-informed care, but it isn’t consistently used in mental health. We are changing that through strategic initiatives and thought leadership, including a paper in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
A Framework for Excellence
As many as 20% of children and youth with depression do not respond to psychotherapy and medication, a condition called Pediatric Treatment Resistant Depression (PTRD). This leaves children, especially those 12 and younger, with a higher risk for death by suicide but few places to turn for help.
The Meadows Institute developed the PTRD Center of Excellence model, the nation’s first comprehensive blueprint for helping these children and their families. Under this model — soon to be implemented at a major national medical center — every child will receive a full diagnostic evaluation, long-term treatment, skill building, and individual and family therapeutic support.
Strengthening the Mental Health Workforce
The national shortage of qualified, caring mental health professionals affects nearly every community in Texas and compounds existing challenges that prevent people from accessing care, including lack of insurance coverage and long provider waitlists.
- The Meadows Institute is leading the field to expand and retain a robust mental health workforce by promoting digital mental health technologies that help people measure changes in their symptoms, maximize staff capacity, and reduce barriers to in-person care.
- With help from the Meadows Institute and $1.75 million in state funding, Midland College is leading the way to boost the mental health workforce by training new behavioral health care managers, inpatient psychiatric technicians, and other entry-level mental health professionals. This first-of-its-kind project will support the 2025 expansion of the Permian Basin Behavioral Health Center and set the stage for the Meadows Institute to bring the curriculum to Dallas and other parts of the state.
- The Roundtable on Revolutionizing the Behavioral Health Workforce at NatCon24, the nation’s largest mental health conference, upheld the Midland College program as best practice solutions to address the mental health workforce shortage. President and CEO Andy Keller and thought leaders from the Ballmer Group, Bipartisan Policy Center, Pew Charitable Trusts, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration contributed to the event hosted by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
“We have a responsibility and an opportunity to implement behavioral health measurement because we know that what gets measured gets done and what gets measured gets people better.”
— John Snook, chief policy officer
“If properly deployed, digital mental health tools can bolster the mental health workforce and improve access to care — especially for young people, who tend to be avid users of digital technologies.”
— Kacie Kelly, chief innovation officer