Mental Health Practitioners
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 26,800 mental health practitioners in the US diagnose and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and problems due to mental illness, alcohol and substance abuse, physical and emotional trauma, or stress. Practitioners include psychologists, counselors, therapists, social workers, and nurses. Practitioners may operate private or group practices or work within third-party facilities, such as hospitals, medical centers, substance abuse treatment centers, hospitals, and colleges.
Dependence on Third-Party Payers
Mental health practitioners are highly dependent on government programs and third-party insurers to pay for services.
Battling The Stigma
The stigma associated with mental health problems often discourages individuals from seeking help and can delay treatment.
Industry size & Structure
The average mental health practitioner operates out of a single location, employs about 4-5 workers, and generates $435,000 annually.
- The mental health practitioner industry consists of about 26,800 establishments that employ about 126,000 workers and generate $12 billion annually.
- The industry is highly fragmented; the top 50 companies account for 11% of industry revenue.
- The industry does not include psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, and psychotherapists having the degree of MD (Doctor of Medicine) or DO (Doctor of Osteopathy).
Industry Forecast
Mental Health Practitioners Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Nov 4, 2022 - Demand Strains Capacity
- Six in 10 psychologists say they don’t have openings for new patients, according to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association. Nearly half (46%) said they have been unable to meet the demand for treatment and nearly three-quarters (72%) have longer waitlists than before the pandemic. On average, psychologists reported being contacted by more than 15 potential new patients seeking care a month. Demand for anxiety and depression treatment remained high for the third consecutive year while demand for treatment for trauma- and stressor-related disorders and substance use disorders has grown.
- The US Preventive Services Task Force yesterday recommended screening children aged 8-18 for anxiety. The panel also recommended screening children aged 12-18 for major depressive disorder, as it did in 2016. Screening and follow-up care can reduce symptoms of depression and can improve, and potentially resolve, anxiety for older children and teens. There is very limited evidence on the benefits and harms of screening children younger than 8 for anxiety and younger than 12 for depression. Suicide is a leading cause of death for older children and teens, but there continues to be limited evidence across all ages about screening teens for suicide risk in those who do not show signs or symptoms.
- People who had COVID-19 may be 25% more likely to develop a psychiatric disorder four months after the infection, according to a 2022 Oregon State University study. The study compared people with a COVID-19 diagnosis with patients with other respiratory tract infections. Researchers limited the study to patients with no previous mental illness and looked at two time periods following COVID-19 diagnosis: from 21 to 120 days and from 120 to 365 days.
- Some industry experts are concerned that the pandemic-driven increase in availability of telehealth services will disproportionately benefit large multistate healthcare providers at the expense of small, local organizations. The head of Rimrock, Montana’s largest behavioral health provider, worries that an influx of out-of-state providers that don't take Medicaid patients could lead to the loss of a significant number of its privately insured patients. Rimrock patients with private insurance subsidize patients who are on Medicaid, CEO Lenette Kosovich said. The difference in insurance reimbursement rates between the two is so great that the loss of those privately insured patients would hamper Rimrock’s operations. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana spokesperson John Doran said that he shares Kosovich’s concerns that local providers could suffer or be driven out of business, particularly in smaller states. “The future of medicine has to include connecting a Montana patient to a Montana provider,” Doran said.
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