A National Collaboration Between West Health and NCQA to Align Quality Measures and Transform Care
Nearly 59 million U.S. adults, about 23% of the population, experience mental illness each year, yet half do not receive treatment (SAMHSA).
For millions of Americans, primary care is the first place they turn for help; however, behavioral health remains disconnected from much of the healthcare system—especially in primary care.
NCQA and West Health are partnering to change that.
Together, we are advancing the integration of behavioral health into primary care by defining and aligning a core set of behavioral health quality measures. This shared foundation will help guide how care is delivered, evaluated, and improved—supporting scalable, high-quality, whole-person care nationwide.
The Challenge
Primary care has become a critical access point for behavioral health, but the system has not been designed to support this role. Providers face limited time, training, and infrastructure, while access to specialty behavioral health services remains constrained. Even when effective integrated care models exist, they have struggled to scale. As a result, even when needs are identified, care is often delayed, fragmented, or never delivered.
A major barrier is measurement. Hundreds of behavioral health quality measures are currently in use, but they are often misaligned, inconsistently applied, and designed for specialty settings rather than real-world primary care. Without a shared definition of high-quality behavioral health care, progress remains fragmented.
Our Approach
NCQA and West Health are working to bring the same rigor and consistency to behavioral health that quality measurement has long provided for physical health conditions.
Evidence shows that measurement-informed, coordinated approaches can significantly improve care. Approximately 75% of patients received a diagnosis and began treatment within six months, compared to less than 25% under usual care (Reist et al., 2022).
This collaboration focuses on:
- Defining and aligning a core set of high-impact behavioral health quality measures for primary care
- Supporting earlier identification, better coordination, and more consistent follow-up for patients
- Enabling alignment across care delivery, payment, and policy to drive accountability and sustainability
These measures serve as practical guardrails—helping care teams deliver more effective, coordinated whole-person care, while giving payers and policymakers the tools to align incentives around quality and value.
Why This Collaboration Is Different
This work is grounded in real-world implementation and broad industry alignment from the start. NCQA brings national leadership in quality measurement and standard-setting with reach across the healthcare system, while West Health brings proven experience testing and scaling integrated care through real-world delivery models.
Together, we are building, testing, and scaling solutions designed to work in practice—and to influence care delivery nationwide.
Events and News
The NCQA–West Health Executive Forum on April 21, 2026 brings together senior leaders across care delivery, quality measurement, policy, and payment. The forum will provide a focused opportunity to align on priorities, discuss real-world implementation considerations, and inform the launch of the first phase of implementation testing—advancing the integration of behavioral health into primary care through measurement-informed care.