The 2026 Mid-Year Reality Check
The industry made several major predictions for behavioral health in 2026. We asked operators and clinicians running outpatient practices what's actually happening in their practices using a survey conducted across LinkedIn, Facebook and email.
What the 2026 data says and where the headlines missed
What you’ll learn:
- Which parts of the revenue cycle are causing the most burden under increasing insurance payer pressures
- What clinicians named as the real driver of burnout, which isn't what the workforce headlines claim
- How value-based participation shifted since 2025, and why it still isn't paying most practices
- Where behavioral health data breaches are landing in 2026 and how security tops the compliance focus for leaders
- The full predictions-versus-reality scorecard, with the data and sources behind each verdict
Download the report
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For every 50-minute session, there's often 20-30 minutes of notes, treatment plans, prior authorizations, phone calls with insurance. Most clinicians didn't go into this field to fight billing codes.
- Anonymous Licensed Therapist and Clinical Supervisor