Keeping Patients Stable and Out of the Hospital
In 2025, we cared for 24,746 established patients across our outpatient programs. Of those patients:
- Fewer than 3 out of every 100 required hospitalization
- 733 patients were hospitalized, representing a hospitalization rate of 2.96%
- Typical outpatient behavioral health benchmarks range from 5-8%
A low hospitalization rate isn’t about avoiding higher levels of care, it’s about early identification, consistent follow-up, and treatment plans that actually work in the real world. Our data suggests that most patients are able to remain stable and supported in outpatient care rather than escalating to crisis services.
Depression Outcomes That Show Meaningful Change
Depression treatment success is often reported inconsistently, making comparisons difficult. We use standardized PHQ-9 measures and focus on clinically meaningful change, not just score movement.
For Patients With Higher Depression Severity
Among patients with moderately severe or severe depression:
- Nearly 30% improved into a moderate, mild, or minimal symptom range
- About 1 in 10 experienced a 50% or greater reduction in symptom severity
- Almost half showed measurable improvement within five months
- For those who improved, change typically occurred after just two visits
- The median time to improvement was about two months from the first visit
These findings suggest that improvement does not require prolonged trial-and-error when care is coordinated and closely monitored.
Why Integrated Care Matters
One of the clearest differentiators in our data is the impact of integrated treatment:
- Patients seeing a prescriber only experienced an average symptom reduction of ~8% within 6 months.
- Patients receiving both prescriber care and therapy saw an average reduction of nearly 12% within 6 months.
This reinforces what many patients intuitively know: medication and therapy are not competing approaches, they’re complimentary. Outcomes improve when care is coordinated rather than siloed.
How Our Outcomes Compare to “Industry” Benchmarks
Large multi-organization studies help contextualize outpatient depression outcomes:
- Across 33 organizations in nine states, 3-month response rates ranged from ~32–51%, depending on how response was defined
- Remission rates around 22% at 3 months are commonly reported
- In usual care, only 20–40% of treated patients achieve remission within 12 months
Against that backdrop:
- Our 48% response rate among patients with high PHQ-9 scores falls at the high end of reported ranges
- 28.57% of patients with high (above 15) PHQ-9 scores improved to a score below 15, exceeding commonly reported short-term remission benchmarks
- The fact that improvement often occurred within two visits suggests efficient, targeted treatment rather than prolonged engagement without progress
Importantly, research shows that while absolute percentages vary based on definitions, organizations that perform well tend to perform well across multiple outcome metrics. Consistency matters more than cherry-picked numbers.
What This Means for Patients and Partners
Our data tells a consistent story:
- Patients at BNBA are less likely to require hospitalization than seen in other research
- Many experience meaningful symptom improvement
- Improvement at BNBA often happens earlier than suggested by other research
- Integrated care leads to better outcomes
For patients, this means faster relief and fewer disruptions to daily life.
For referral partners and health systems, it means confidence that outpatient care is effective, measurable, and accountable.
We believe mental health care should be judged not just by access, but by outcomes, and we’re committed to continuing to measure, refine, and improve how we deliver care.
*The information in this post is based on surveys of 1,845 BNBA patients.
Authors: Dr. Mohammad Munir, President & CEO | Alishah Jamshed Khan, Patient Outcomes Analyst