HEALTH EQUITY REPORT
Behavioral health disparities
WHAT WE KNOW
The mental health of Tennesseans continues to worsen as depression, suicidal thoughts, mental illness and suicide death trend upwards
Everyone deserves to pursue their health goals, but some communities have historically been left behind. We're committed to health equity, and it starts with better understanding the challenges our neighbors face.
Key facts about behavioral health disparities in Tennessee1
This data shows how likely members are to receive certain screenings, care or treatments, broken down by race. Each data measure has a specific definition provided under “See More.”
We split the data by type of health plan because we know that, generally speaking, Medicaid members tend to face more social risk factors and health disparities than people with commercial health plans.
Commercial members include people who get health coverage through their jobs or buy an individual policy directly from BCBST (without financial assistance through healthcare.gov).2
Asian
63.0%
Black
49.9%
Hispanic
55.6%
White
63.2%
Asian
N/A
Black
54.4%
Hispanic
N/A
White
63.9%
Asian
N/A
Black
39.7%
Hispanic
N/A
White
36.8%
Asian
N/A
Black
30.5%
Hispanic
33.3%
White
37.6%
Asian
N/A
Black
15.7%
Hispanic
11.1%
White
16.0%
Social factors drive health outcomes
We know that food, housing and literacy are just a few of the social factors that influence a person's health journey. That's why we developed a Social Risk Index to understand and support our members' needs.
Addressing social drivers of health related to behavioral health
We're providing culturally competent care training to health care providers to help members get the support they need and to address health disparities preventing members from getting certain screenings or treatment for mental health issues.
ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY
Data Sources
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1.The Sycamore Institute, Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Tennessee Kaiser Family Foundation, Average Number of Poor Mental Health Days Reported in the Last 30 Days Among All Adults by Race/Ethnicity Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, NSDUH State Estimates Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suicide Mortality by State
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2.
2022 BCBST Commercial Racial/Ethnic Health Disparity Population Assessment
The calculated measure result rates are considered adjusted, unaudited HEDIS rates. They are only used for population health purposes and internal, quality improvement purposes. All stratified rates are based on data from BCBST administrative systems only. No attempt was made to manually abstract data from patients’ medical records.
HEDIS® – The Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is a registered trademark of NCQA.
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©1998- BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Inc., an Independent Licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is a Qualified Health Plan issuer in the Health Insurance Marketplace. 1 Cameron Hill Circle, Chattanooga, TN 37402-0001