Behavioral Health Leaders Launch National Outcomes Framework to Fix Fragmented Care

At BHOC26, Patrick J. Kennedy calls on payers and providers to organize and mobilize for meaningful systemic change

DANA POINT, Calif., Oct. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- To address systemic fragmentation and accelerate the transition to value-based care, the Behavioral Health Outcomes Consortium (BHOC) today released a standardized framework designed to unify how mental health and addiction recovery outcomes are measured, tracked, and rewarded nationwide.

The roadmap was developed during intensive, multi-sector working sessions at the first BHOC26 summit held in Dana Point, California, and sets out specific guidelines for linking patient outcomes directly to payer reimbursement models and clinical workflows.

At the summit, former U.S. Representative and mental health advocate The Honorable Patrick J. Kennedy, who is also the co-founder of The Kennedy Forum, delivered a keynote speech in which he called on the attendees to go beyond their isolated actions and to form a united front in order to remedy the overburdened system.

"We cannot fix a fragmented behavioral health system with fragmented efforts. To achieve meaningful, lasting change, the entire behavioral healthcare ecosystem—payers, providers, policymakers, and innovators—must organize, mobilize, and align around real accountability, clinical care pathways, and common outcome standards. What occurred at BHOC26 is an essential step toward building that unified movement."

Building on the call to action that Kennedy had made, the industry leaders collaborated in four specific blocks to establish concrete commitments regarding care delivery and reimbursement.

"Patrick Kennedy captured the exact core of why we founded BHOC and brought everyone together in Dana Point: our system is on fragile ground, and we can no longer afford to operate in isolation," said Michael Castanon, Founder of BHOC and CEO of Alter Behavioral Health and Care Predictor. "Taking his message to heart, our working groups focused on turning shared urgency into coordinated action. The framework we developed is a direct answer to that call—giving providers, payers, and investors a clear, accountable path to organize around real patient results."

The newly released framework addresses five critical vulnerabilities in the behavioral healthcare ecosystem:

1. Standardized Metrics (Foundation): Establishes a common baseline set of outcomes tracking symptom reduction, daily functioning, and post-discharge status across care settings.
2. Accountable Care Hand-Offs (Care Delivery): Mandates continuous tracking and responsible point-of-contact hand-offs following patient referrals to prevent care drops.
3. Transparent Patient Feedback (Patient Experience): Introduces plain-language progress summaries and structured goal-setting directly with patients during treatment.
4. Workflow Optimization (Operational Support): Target-eliminates administrative friction, such as dual-entry data, allowing clinicians to focus on patient interaction.
5. Payer-Funded Pilots (Conditional Expansion): Defines structured, risk-protected agreement templates for payers to fund outcome-driven behavioral health pilots starting in 2027.

"Behavioral health has never had a shared standard for what gets measured, so payers and providers have been talking past each other," says Trevor Colhoun, CEO, TPN.health, and Payer Chair of BHOC 2026. "BHOC 2026 got providers, payers and health systems to commit to building one framework for measurable outcomes. In 2027, we will open that framework to health plans and provider networks nationwide to pilot and scale these standards."

Mobilizing for 2027: Call for Industry Pilot Partners

The Consortium is calling on healthcare systems, behavioral health providers, and health plans to take part in the first pilot working group in 2027. Anyone who wishes to look at the full outcomes framework, adopt the standards, or take part in the 2027 pilot agreements can join the initiative at www.bhoc26.com.

About Behavioral Health Outcomes Consortium (BHOC)

The Behavioral Health Outcomes Consortium (BHOC) is an executive-level collective of providers, payers, policy advocates, researchers, and technology leaders dedicated to transforming behavioral healthcare delivery. Founded by Michael Castanon and supported by primary partners including TPN.health, Keck Graduate University, KIPU, ERP Health, Care Predictor, Hansei Solutions, Val.Care, and Anonymous Health, BHOC establishes unified industry standards to make care measurable, scalable, and sustainable.

SOURCE Alter Behavioral Health