ArticlePopulation health management2023
The Impact of a Workforce Mental Health Program on Employer Medical Plan Spend: An Application of Cost Efficiency Measurement for Mental Health Care.
Article in Population health management, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Changes in Workplace Productivity and Estimated Cost Savings During Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Irish National Health Service: Naturalistic, Repeated-Measures, Retrospective Survey Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Changes in Work Impairment and Associated Cost Savings Among Employees Receiving Psychotherapy: Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Workplace Mental Health Programs in Reducing Occupational Burnout: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2025Review
- Return on Investment of Enhanced Behavioral Health Services.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- The Impact of Enhanced Behavioral Health Services on Total Healthcare Costs Among US Employers: A Site-Level Analysis of 19 Cohort Studies.Journal of health economics and outcomes research · 2025Article
- Assessing the impact of a comprehensive mental health program on frontline health service workers.PloS one · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mental health issues often result in significant impairment and financial challenges, both at home and in the workplace. Solutions vary widely in their usage and cost-effectiveness. This study presents an analysis of medical and prescription drug spending and utilization data for the employees of 4 companies who were eligible for an evidence-based workforce mental health program (WMHP). A variation of coarsened exact matching paired WMHP users to nonusers, based on demographics, location, and medical factors. Individuals included 2791 pairs of members whose medical claims were incurred in 2018 and 3883 pairs with claims in 2019. Using a cost efficiency measurement process, mean cost and utilization per person per year (PPPY) were compared. WMHP users had lower medical (-$2295 in 2018; -$2304 in 2019) and prescription drug spending (-$295 in 2018; -$312 in 2019). Over half of the cost reduction (-$1252 in 2018; -$1211 in 2019) resulted from shifting therapy services from the medical benefit to WMHP. WMHP users attended about 12 sessions PPPY, whereas the comparison group of nonusers attended about 7 mental health office visits PPPY under the medical benefit. WMHP users had more mental health-related visits in both years, but had fewer visits on the medical plan, and fewer emergency department visits for mental health than comparison group members. These results provide evidence that high-quality, evidence-based mental health services can reduce total expenditures and change utilization patterns. Evidence-based WMHP may represent a prudent investment for employers in providing mental health care to employees.
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