Early detection is key to managing behavioral health as well as its costs and outcomes. This article explores how a “Digital Front Door” can empower health plans to identify member needs proactively, support whole-person wellbeing and connect them to the right level of care before challenges escalate.
Behavioral health challenges now account for nearly one in five adult healthcare claims in the U.S., yet most go undiagnosed or untreated until they escalate into crises. Health plans are under increasing pressure to identify and support members earlier, both to improve outcomes and to reduce avoidable downstream costs. The concept of a Digital Front Door - an integrated, self-guided entry point for behavioral health - offers a transformative opportunity to engage members before they reach a breaking point.
Behavioral health doesn’t exist in a silo. Stress, sleep, chronic medical conditions, financial strain, burnout, loneliness and daily habits all shape mental health - and vice versa. As health plans begin a new year focused on prevention, the opportunity isn’t only earlier identification of behavioral health needs; it’s strengthening whole-person wellbeing through earlier support and easier access to the right resources.
A Digital Front Door combines clinically validated self-assessments, educational tools and personalized content to screen members for symptoms of depression, anxiety, substance use, stress and more, while also surfacing common upstream drivers like burnout risk, sleep disruption and wellbeing challenges that often precede a clinical diagnosis. Through gentle nudges and guided navigation to appropriate care, members are invited to engage without stigma or fear. For health plans and large self-insured employers, this improved approach to navigation can translate into measurable return on investment by reducing symptom escalation, emergency department visits and reliance on higher levels of care - while improving engagement and satisfaction.
Prevention doesn’t always start with therapy - and it doesn’t always start with a diagnosis.
For many members, the first step is a private moment of self-awareness paired with practical tools they can use immediately: short skills-based exercises, stress and sleep support, resilience content and self-guided resources that meet them where they are. When members do need clinical care, a Digital Front Door helps ensure they’re guided quickly and confidently to the right next step.
NovaOne’s Digital Front Door uses evidence-based assessments and technology-driven personalization to detect early warning signs across populations. The platform integrates seamlessly into health plan portals and care management systems, ensuring members are triaged efficiently to self-guided resources and/or clinical care. By doing so, NovaOne helps health plans move from reactive care models to proactive prevention frameworks – supporting earlier engagement that can reduce escalation and improve outcomes over time.
Because it’s self-guided and available anytime, the Digital Front Door also expands access for members who face barriers to traditional care - whether due to stigma, time, geography or uncertainty about where to start. It can normalize mental health conversations and create a pathway from self-awareness to support that feels approachable, private and personalized.
“This tool helps so many people get the care they need while removing the barriers that prevent them from receiving that care in a timely manner.” - Complex Case Manager, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield
Ultimately, success in early detection of behavioral health concerns depends on supporting members with fullness – not just identifying concerns, but offering meaningful prevention steps that build resilience, improve wellbeing and connect members to the right level of care. A well-designed Digital Front Door removes friction, reduces stigma and creates a path from self-awareness to clinical support.
As health plans and employers enter a new year, members are often more open to reflecting on how they feel mentally, physically and emotionally. A Digital Front Door makes it easier to act on that reflection early - helping people get support sooner and preventing avoidable crises later.
Ready to take prevention-first behavioral health from concept to action?
Join our upcoming webinar, “The Business Case for Preventive Behavioral Health: Lower Costs, Better Outcomes, Less Burnout,” on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 2 p.m. ET. We’ll break down how health plans can identify needs earlier, reduce avoidable utilization and improve outcomes at scale.
Register now.
Sources: CDC, McKinsey & Company, NIH