Useful resources for Mental Health Month

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan acknowledges Mental Health Month each May by reminding providers and hospitals that there are many resources available to help patients.

More than 1 in 5 U.S. adults, or 22.8% of the population, live with a mental illness, according to the National Institutes on Mental Health.

We encourage providers to discuss mental health with their patients. You can find resources to help you in those conversations on the National Alliance on Mental Illness website.

As part of our mission to improve whole-person health, we’ve created a toolkit that includes:

• Social media messaging with topics on substance abuse disorder, stigma associated with mental health issues and suicide prevention
• Information on Blue Cross Virtual Well-BeingSM webinars
• List of resources to connect individuals with trained mental health professionals

Blue Cross has also been proactive in developing treatment offerings that include psychiatric urgent care centers, mobile crisis services, crisis stabilization and crisis residential centers. For information on these services, visit bcbsm.com/crisiscare. Also visit the For Blue Cross commercial members section of the Blue Cross Behavioral Health page on our ereferrals.bcbsm.com website.

Our crisis stabilization programs include Common Ground in Pontiac, Hegira in Livonia and, as of May 8, a new facility at St. Mary’s campus in Grand Rapids.

Psychiatric urgent care through Blue Cross is now available in all 83 counties in Michigan. Mobile crisis services are available in 25 counties for face-to-face visits and in the entire Lower Peninsula by telemedicine.

Outcomes so far have been positive. Sixty-eight percent of members at Hegira Health are being directed to alternative placements using crisis services, and 81% of members at Common Ground are being referred to placements in less acute settings.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.