Seven Digital Health Companies Enter the Mental Health Arena to Expand Diagnostic Capacity and Reduce Treatment Costs

Mental illnesses are as severe as physical diseases, capable of devastating one’s health; it is time we acknowledged this reality. Someone in your life is suffering from a mental illness. You may be unaware of it, but it is true. In fact, one in five adults lives with a mental illness.

Society teaches us that mental illness is a source of shame, leading most patients to conceal their condition and forgo treatment. Meanwhile, patients often lose hope in recovery because they are frequently perceived as dangerous or cognitively impaired.

What I want to say is that our society is becoming increasingly tolerant, yet examples to the contrary in popular culture are commonplace. Drake’s new song “Two Birds, One Stone” criticizes rapper Kid Cudi for seeking treatment after admitting to suffering from depression and having suicidal thoughts. Even the formidable tough guy Tony Soprano felt compelled to conceal his history of seeing a psychiatrist from his friends and family. There are other examples, but I believe you get the point.

Stigmatizing mental illness is the greatest shame we have artificially created. Meanwhile, although we have established a medical rehabilitation system, it fails to provide care for all patients due to constraints in treatment standards and costs, showing a bias toward the clinical treatment of traditional diseases such as cancer and heart disease. It is now time for us to prioritize depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses. These conditions are as severe as physical diseases and can devastate a person’s health. However, we must also acknowledge that the medical community has yet to develop highly effective treatments.

To analyze this issue accurately, we note that 18.5% of adults in the United States suffer from various forms of mental illness. This figure is nearly equivalent to the combined prevalence of heart disease (11.5%) and cancer (8.5%), which are the two leading causes of death in the United States.

Imagine the societal chaos that would ensue if half of all patients with heart disease and cancer were unable to access medical care. This is precisely the situation faced by individuals with mental illness. More than half of these patients either do not seek treatment or remain undiagnosed, resulting in nearly $200 billion in losses for employers in terms of income and productivity. Even more alarmingly, mental illness contributes to 37,000 suicides annually. Meanwhile, we spend $200 billion each year treating only the half of patients who are actually identified. This constitutes a major problem, as we currently lack practical and effective methods to treat this patient population:

We Discriminate Against Those Seeking Treatment

"Clinicians Lack Effective Diagnostic Tools in Many Cases"

The number of patients that doctors can attend to is less than half the number of people currently requiring treatment.

Many patients are unable to receive treatment due to the prohibitive cost of care.

What is particularly troubling is how to make treatment effective in the absence of adequate care—up to 90% of patients experience symptom improvement after receiving treatment. Therefore, we must provide better therapeutic care for patients. We believe it is time for digital health companies to take the lead in seeking solutions.

Our past failures in mental health care stem from the fact that this sector is prone to disruption. Although the U.S. market is large, the problem is global; the proportion of individuals with mental illness and those who remain untreated worldwide is very close to that in the United States. This means that hundreds of millions of patients are unable to receive help or access traditional forms of treatment (i.e., face-to-face therapy). It is not feasible or effective to scale up such treatment proportionally to meet the needs of these patients. Therefore, an alternative solution must be sought.

We believe that technology will be a key component of this solution, and many such technologies have already emerged.Telemedicine is an effective tool that extends traditional physician-led treatment to patients in medically underserved areas.Digital therapeutics have long failed to deliver the benefits touted in their advertising—namely, superior efficacy and lower costs. However, recently, entities such asInternet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT) has demonstrated positive outcomes in treating conditions ranging from social anxiety and depression to post-traumatic stress disorder., this therapy typically includes self-help instructions, homework assignments, inquiries, and guidance from online physicians.

New analytical tools can sift through vast amounts of data to uncover symptoms that are imperceptible to physicians. Digital health has the potential to significantly transform patient diagnosis and treatment, making care accessible at a fraction of the traditional cost. We are not the only investors focusing on this sector; substantial capital has flowed into this space over the past 18 months.Here are seven companies specializing in mental health disorders.

Prior to the presidential election on November 8 last year, favorable regulatory developments emerged in support of enhanced care options. For instance, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates mental health treatment as an essential health benefit within health insurance plans. Although President-elect Trump initially insisted that repealing the Obama-era healthcare reform would be his top priority upon taking office, his stance has since softened, indicating that certain provisions of the ACA will be retained. Regardless of changes in the regulatory landscape, we believe that delivering low-cost treatment solutions by expanding the telehealth capabilities and coverage of existing healthcare provider networks will achieve significant success.

As a leading online therapy company, Talkspace has transformed the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness by bringing therapist-client conversations into the digital age through a communication platform. Since its inception, the company has been committed to eliminating the stigma associated with mental illness and making treatment accessible to millions. Talkspace’s flagship product, Unlimited Messaging Therapy, has been tried by over 300,000 people. Users can access Talkspace via www.talkspace.com or by downloading its mobile app from the iOS and Google Play stores.

On July 21, 2016, Agora.io announced a partnership with Talkspace, a leading online therapy service provider. Patients and clinicians can now communicate via secure, real-time audio and video on the Talkspace platform.

A care collaboration tool has been developed to improve coordination among healthcare providers, health systems, and behavioral health managers, thereby better integrating behavioral health with primary care and sustaining momentum for ongoing development. Quartet Health, a company founded on the premise of behavioral health integration, announced the addition of Highmark to its client roster. This marks a significant milestone, as it signifies the company’s expansion into an entirely new market—Pennsylvania—which is one of the six to eight target markets identified by the company. Quartet Health secured $40 million in Series B financing led by GV.

Through its platform, Quartet helps primary care physicians easily identify members who could benefit from behavioral health support, locate specialists within its network, and schedule appointments for patients. Quartet currently has two clients in Boston: Steward Health and Lahey Health.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2012 and has 17 employees. It is a provider of mobile and web applications focused on mental health, and announced in February that it had raised $17 million in financing. This Series A round was led by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), along with Lantern’s previous investors Mayfield Fund, SoftTech Venture Capital, and Stanford University.

Providing digitally enhanced mental health services to healthcare providers (including the NHS), individuals, and businesses. It adopts an online interactive approach, offering one-on-one, discreet, and confidential therapy, enabling patients to consult with accredited, highly skilled therapists in a secure virtual environment at times and locations convenient to them. The application of this technology provides patients with greater choices and improves access to effective, evidence-based mental health therapies, which are delivered in real time over the internet without waiting periods. Ieso’s interactive therapy service offers a comfortable environment for patients managing common mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. These two prevalent mental disorders represent major diagnoses affecting both physical and mental well-being.

To provide the most effective and cost-efficient online solution for overcoming social anxiety. Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), this program has been proven to reduce social anxiety in a convenient, private setting. Joyable’s technology makes it easy to get started, with guided instructions helping users complete each step.

A data-driven platform is being established to identify individuals at risk for behavioral and mental health conditions. Lyra Health has specialized departments dedicated to assessing individuals who may require mental health support. It provides digital diagnostic tests to primary care providers. These tests are used to screen and evaluate patients, identifying those with potential needs for behavioral health care. Additionally, an analytical model identifies individuals deemed at highest risk and alerts physicians for intervention.

It can deliver unique value. By reducing comorbid behavioral health issues, it can improve patient recovery outcomes, lower care costs, help people regain their health, and restore their well-being.

AbleTo tracks initial DASS-21 scores to establish baseline levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and conducts reassessments upon completion of the treatment plan. Patients provide feedback both during and after the program, all of which is carefully reviewed with meticulous follow-up actions. First, its professional therapists and coaches are qualified (e.g., experienced volunteers) and well-trained. Second, it maintains robust guidelines and protocols to ensure service continuity and high-quality standards. Third, its clinical supervisors oversee the treatment process, documenting and reviewing each medical record, and conducting case discussions for every patient.

The dynamics of the mental health market are complex, with substantial demand. Clinicians require better tools to diagnose patients both in traditional healthcare settings and online. Payers need clinically validated products that deliver outcomes comparable to those of in-person therapy. Patients seek ways to eliminate or avoid the stigma associated with seeking care. The cost of patient treatment must be significantly reduced. Nevertheless, strong market demand continues to create favorable conditions for innovation. So, what does this mean for us? In short, it means improved access to high-quality care.

The good news is that there has been significant progress. Researchers at Northwestern University have developed an app called Purple Robot, which tracks users’ movements and phone usage to identify signs of depression. SilverCloud Health reports patient recovery and engagement rates consistent with those of traditional face-to-face therapy. Ieso Digital Health enables patients to communicate anonymously in real time via text with their therapists from anywhere, helping to reduce and eliminate feelings of stigma. Joyable, Lantern, and SilverCloud utilize online tools for one-to-many interactions, expanding the diagnostic capacity of existing psychiatrists while reducing costs.

This progress gives reason for optimism: as the quality of care improves and adoption by payers, providers, and consumers increases, the number of untreated patients will decline significantly.

Article: TechCrunch

Author: Adam Seabrook