The Emerging Role of Alternative Payment Models in Promoting Mental Healthcare Equity

Healthcare programs based on alternative payment models (APMs) have gained in prominence for their increasingly well-established impact on quality and cost outcomes. While APMs also appear to have potential utility in addressing healthcare disparities, it remains unclear how they should best be leveraged for this purpose. Because the landscape of mental healthcare presents unique challenges, it is crucial that lessons from past programs are integrated into the design of APMs in mental healthcare so the promise of their impact on the goal of equity might be fulfilled.