Research Outline

Mental Health Treatment Market

Goals

The goal of the project is to determine the following: (1) the size of the overall software market for mental health, (2) the demographics of individuals in the US who are seeking/have received mental health care, (3) instances where insurance payors acquired software companies in the last three years, (4) the total number of mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral health treatment services in the US.

Early Findings

  • The global market size for behavioral/mental health software was valued at $2.1 billion in 2019. The US segment of this market was worth $708.9 million in 2017.
  • About 21.5 million people in the U.S. were reported to suffer from disorders related to substance abuse in 2014. Of those, only 2.5 million people received the necessary treatment.
  • Also in 2019, UnitedHealth's IT division acquired MedSynergies, a practice and revenue management software company.
  • Over 577,000 mental health professionals in the U.S. focus on the treatment (and/or diagnosis) of a mental health or substance abuse concern. As of 2018, there were 11,682 registered mental health treatment facilities in the U.S.
  • In 2017, about 46.6 million adults in the United States were reported to be suffering from a form of mental illness (AMI). Mental illness (AMI) was more prevalent among women (22.3%) than men (15.1%).
  • Young adults aged 18-25 years had the highest prevalence of AMI (25.8%) compared to adults aged 26-49 years (22.2%) and aged 50 and older (13.8%).
  • In terms of race, the prevalence of AMI was highest among adults belonging to two or more races (28.6%) and then followed by White adults (20.4%). The prevalence of AMI is lowest among Asian adults (14.5%).
  • However, about 11.2 million adults in the United States suffer from serious mental illness (SMI). Serious mental illness (SMI) is also more prevalent among women (5.7%) than men (3.3%).