Readers Write: What We Can Learn about Mental Healthcare from a Cattle Farm

What We Can Learn about Mental Healthcare from a Cattle Farm
By Teira Gunlock

Teira Gunlock, MHA is CEO of First Stop Health.

What does mental healthcare in the United States have in common with a farm? As a healthcare executive who grew up on a cattle farm in Missouri, I can tell you there are more similarities than you might think.

Let’s start with what we know. Mental healthcare in the US is in crisis. One-third of Americans say they can’t get the help they need, and both individuals and employers face the same barriers to care of cost and access. Mercer reports that 94% of large employers have increased their investment in mental health coverage over the last three years, a trend we’ve also seen in small- and medium-sized businesses.

And yet, people aren’t getting the care they need because it’s too expensive and there aren’t enough providers to meet the demand. Costs will only continue to rise, making it increasingly more challenging for employers to provide adequate coverage.

Virtual care has the potential to fill this gap. For employers, virtual care offers the promise of low administrative costs, high utilization, ease of engagement, and a positive patient experience. For patients, virtual mental healthcare means that they can see providers on their own schedule, with fewer barriers to getting care.

Seems like virtual care is the silver bullet, right? Not exactly. A lot of virtual mental healthcare models have fallen short where it counts. With low engagement rates and poor patient satisfaction scores, the current model has proven unsustainable. Many providers are cutting out telehealth options altogether. 

Clearly, the system is broken.

This is where the farm analogy comes back in. On the farm where I grew up, things are constantly broken – fences, machinery, you name it. I learned that small fixes each day can make a big impact over time. A problem may seem overwhelming, and healthcare surely is, but big problems just don’t get solved overnight. They require a series of small, ongoing fixes rather than a one-and-done solution. I bring that mentality to my work in healthcare every day.

Revolutionizing the mental healthcare landscape is a lofty goal, and no one company can do it alone. It requires insights and innovative ideas from people with a wide variety of expertise and experience who are passionate about being part of the solution.

During the pandemic, when mental health services were desperately needed, we saw a proliferation of virtual mental health solutions enter the market. Those early solutions addressed some of the problems, but we learned there was more to fix.  

Effective care requires removing the barriers that prevent people from accessing it. In mental healthcare, high costs, difficulties in connecting with providers, and lack of long-term support all hinder patients from getting the care they need. Moreover, mental healthcare can’t be siloed from the rest of a patient’s care; it must be integrated to treat both the mind and body as a whole. 

The right virtual model can address many of these roadblocks. First, effective virtual care, particularly in rural areas, combined with on-demand access to licensed therapists and mental health coaches, can connect patients wherever they are. 

Second, a streamlined payment model allows for flexibility for providers and patients. It eliminates both out-of-pocket costs and the complicated and expensive reimbursement process.

Third, progress with mental health looks different for everyone, and care works best when it’s ongoing and sustainable. Long-term care models that also support provider selection allow patients to build a relationship with a provider they choose, making them more engaged and invested in their care journey. 

It’s unlikely that the demand for mental health services will decline any time soon, making it more important than ever to have sustainable models that can get patients the care they need. Virtual mental healthcare works best when patients have options that increase their access, are low-cost, and allow for relationships to build between patients and providers over time.

Just like on the cattle farm, fixing what’s broken requires constant problem-solving and resilience. To make meaningful change, we must leapfrog over the status quo and commit to reshaping mental healthcare into a system that emphasizes whole-person health, seamless access, and that puts patients first.