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The pandemic's negative impact on the mental health of millions of people has renewed discussions around why that nation's behavioral healthcare system has been inadequate to meet the level demand for care.
But the failure to meet patients' mental health needs predated the pandemic. Approximately 43% of the more than 51 million adults estimated to have had a mental health condition in 2019 received treatment, according to care access data compiled by Mental Health America.
The care gap has prompted calls for healthcare providers to move swiftly toward integrating behavioral healthcare services into primary care. Holistic approaches to physical and mental healthcare have been shown to help identify more patients experiencing a mental health issue and provide them with earlier interventions that can improve outcomes.