Lucet, the behavioral health ecosystem for health plans, providers and members, today announced the results of the company’s 2024 Validation Report. Certified with the Validation Institute, the cost savings analysis verified that members who were navigated to an appointment with a behavioral health provider through Lucet’s Navigate & Connect had claims-verified lower total medical expenses and decreased hospital admissions than members who navigated into care on their own. With nearly 3,000 members connected to care in one calendar year with Navigate & Connect, the analysis concluded that Lucet realized a $227 per member per month (PMPM) reduction in total medical expenses for a 12-month post-period, for a total of $8 million in annual cost avoidance.
Lucet is dedicated to fundamentally changing how patients navigate behavioral health care and how providers and payers ensure that the right treatment options are available to all who require them. In January 2023, the company launched Navigate & Connect, a tech-enabled solution purpose-built to solve the most pressing issues in behavioral health today – connecting members to the care they need when they need it. Since launching last year, Navigate & Connect has empowered health plan partners to increase successful claims-based connections to care by 72% compared to traditional methods.
“Effective and affordable treatment options for behavioral health can have an immensely positive impact on patients, their loved ones, care delivery teams, and employers. Validation Institute is proud to recognize Lucet’s accomplishments in cost savings and award validation to the organization for Navigate & Connect,” said Craig Sharpe, COO, Validation Institute.
Additional Report Findings
The analysis matched 2,944 health plan members who enrolled and kept their appointment with the Lucet-matched clinician to 3,341 members who utilized Navigate & Connect but engaged into care with a different therapist or psychiatrist than recommended (control group). The two groups were evaluated on multiple potential cost, utilization and demographic variables and were matched on variables that were statistically significant differences between groups. Groups were matched on line of business, age, pre-period inpatient hospitalization utilization, pre-period emergency department use, medical expenses in the period before the program, and a referral to behavioral health care management in the period immediately preceding the connection to care. Medical costs and these other factors were adjusted via propensity matching so the two groups were comparable. Then, a linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the impact of the Lucet’s intervention on the change in PMPM total medical expenses from before to after. The savings were analyzed to test whether it was significant, controlling for confounding variables, and not just a normal fluctuation.
Members who were directly scheduled and connected with their matched behavioral health provider via Navigate & Connect had an increase of $80 PMPM total medical expense from the before to the after period, whereas the control group’s PMPM went up $306 – a $227 PMPM difference. The variance between the two groups was significant, meaning that it was larger than a normal fluctuation and through linear regression can be attributed to the identified intervention. In addition, inpatient stays per member month went down almost 19% in the Lucet-matched group, while the comparison group had a 6% increase in inpatient stays from the pre- to the post period.
“According to SAMHSA, around $280 billion was spent on mental health services in 2020 alone. With affordability continuing to be a major barrier to connecting people in need with behavioral health resources, finding cost-effective ways to deliver necessary care remains a priority for our industry,” said Shana Hoffman, CEO of Lucet. “As demonstrated by our analysis, Navigate & Connect has a certified track record when it comes to reducing total medical expenses and decreased hospital admissions for our health plan members.”
To read the report in full, and the methodology behind the research findings, please visit https://validationinstitute.com/validated-provider/lucet. To learn more about Lucet and how the company’s Navigate & Connect platform is revolutionizing how behavioral health care resources are accessed, please visit https://lucethealth.com/.
About Lucet
Lucet is the only end-to-end solution enabling member connection to care across the entire acuity spectrum and supporting patient-provider matching— improving access through quality, speed and outcomes. Our unique combination of people, clinical expertise and technology is changing how health plans manage their networks, providers manage care pathways, and members manage their health. Powered by more than 15 million assessments and more than 20 years of data, Lucet is proven to successfully identify and connect people across the entire acuity spectrum with the right care in less than five days on average, and often as little as one day. Lucet is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. For more information, visit LucetHealth.com.
About Validation Institute
Validation Institute provides unbiased, data-driven insights on healthcare solutions and services by validating performance claims made by healthcare solution providers and educating purchasers to drive transparency in the marketplace and maximize cost-savings. More information is available at www.ValidationInstitute.com
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