Key Takeaways
- A leading regional health system’s patients waited a median of 67 days for a behavioral health appointment before the beginning of its partnership with Family Care Center
- Family Care Center cut the wait for the health system’s patients to about two weeks with its dedicated referral pathway and leading in-person / hybrid care model, coordinating therapy, psychiatry, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to ensure patients received timely access to the right type of care
- Over 3,700 referrals in 2025, with a 51% referral-to-care conversion rate, well above the typical 30% outpatient conversion rate benchmark
- 86% of patients saw a clinically significant reduction in depression symptoms, and 78% saw a clinically significant reduction in anxiety symptoms
When a primary care or other healthcare provider identifies that a person needs behavioral health support, figuring out where to send the patient in a highly fragmented, disparate behavioral health system can create significant barriers to care, leading to long wait time and dissatisfied healthcare providers. This was the reality for providers and patients of this large, regional health system. By partnering with Family Care Center, barriers to care were immediately removed, creating great access and outcomes for the health system and its patients.
The problem: The health system had 67-day waits for behavioral health care and no dedicated referral partner to rely upon
Patients across one large, regional health system faced a median 67-day wait for a behavioral health appointment, with long waits and fragmented referral pathways quietly getting in the way of care. Health system providers had no reliable partner to work with who would ensure their patients would receive access to high-quality, in-person (or telehealth), and in-network care.
The solution: Partner with Family Care Center for comprehensive behavioral health
Family Care Center became the health system’s system-wide outpatient behavioral health partner for therapy, psychiatry, and TMS, streamlining referral workflows directly inside the electronic medical record and centralizing intake.
As a result:
- First-time therapy and psychiatry appointments became available within one to two weeks.
- In-network status with all major payors removed much of the financial guesswork for patients.
- Multidisciplinary teams offering therapy, medication management, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) under one roof meant patients no longer had to piece together care from separate providers.
- Health system providers receive confirmation that appointments had been scheduled as well as intake note summaries back from Family Care Center, so they knew what was occurring with their patients and why
- Health system leadership receive strategic updates from Family Care Center on a regular cadence
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The results: 3,700+ referrals and better outcomes than national benchmarks
The partnership drove more than 3,700 referrals in the first year, with a 51% referral-to-care conversion rate — well above the typical 30% outpatient benchmark. Of patients treated, 86% saw a clinically significant reduction in depression symptoms, and 78% saw a clinically significant reduction in anxiety symptoms, both outperforming national benchmarks.
“More than 3,700 referrals came through in the first year, with a 51% conversion rate to care — well above the typical 30% outpatient benchmark.”
This partnership shows what’s possible when a health system and a comprehensive behavioral health provider work together to remove the barriers that keep creating challenges for referring providers and keep patients waiting: shorter wait times, more people making it from referral to care, better access to a wide range of providers, and measurable improvement in the symptoms that brought them in.
See how it all came together
Download the complete case study to see how this partnership was built, what the referral workflow looked like in practice, and the full outcomes data by condition and care type.
Download the Family Care Center system-wide behavioral health case study
