The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) expanded its behavioral health provider network by 30% in 2022, doubling its size in the past four years.
The Bloomfield, Connecticut-based health insurance and service giant also nearly doubled the size of its virtual care network, according to its latest impact report. The Cigna Group now engages more than 300,000 mental health and substance use providers in its traditional network and about 163,000 virtual behavioral health providers.
The growth reflects The Cigna Group’s interest in addressing members’ holistic health to reduce costs and poor member outcomes. In 2022, the company progressed or established several behavioral health, value-based care and digital health initiatives.
This is exemplified in The Cigna Group’s investment and partnership with tech-backed population health provider VillageMD, both announced in November.
“With this collaboration, we will accelerate a value-based care model that allows patients to move seamlessly between virtual, digital, and in-person physicians,” the report states. “It will help reduce health care costs and make sure patients receive the appropriate care in the most optimal setting and at the right time.”
As of the end of last year, The Cigna Group had established about 670 collaborative care programs (including 240 accountable care organizations), 126,000 primary care value-based care arrangements and over 3 million patients receiving care via value-based care programs.
Cigna’s aim for the partnership between VillageMD and its service division Evernorth is to improve the connection between several health care services, including behavioral health. It is also expanding access to behavioral health with MDLive, the telehealth app. The report states it launched a pilot program within MDLive to reduce wait times for mental health services.
“By doing so, we help employers save money while getting patients to the right care in the right setting at the right time,” the report states.
The company sought to accelerate the time it takes for children who may be autistic to get care. The Cigna Group created and tested a predictive model to identify children with autism and proactively engage with the parents in getting care. Cigna also partnered with the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, an accrediting agency, to solidify outcomes and quality measures for the autism therapy space’s adoption of value-based care arrangements.
Cigna’s youth mental health efforts also accelerated in 2022. It grew its network for children by 19% to about 172,000 providers. It also increased the number of facilities treating children with behavioral health conditions to about 2,700, an 8% increase.
The company partnered with the virtual youth mental health and family support company Brightline in 2022. Earlier in the year, it expanded its partnership nationwide.
Several of Cigna’s partnerships and other engagements in behavioral health have been done through Evernorth. In late 2022, Cigna’s leadership said during an earnings call the company will double down on Evernorth’s capabilities.
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