The work of Psych Hub isn’t too dissimilar to that of Wysa, which I covered yesterday, insofar as both are leveraging technology to help people attain better mental health. Where Wysa is more actual therapeutic practice in nature, Psych Hub is about helping people find the best therapeutic practices for them. The company’s modus operandi is right there on its homepage, as it says Psych Hub is a tool with which people can “find the path to well-being for you and your loved ones.”
Late last month, Psych Hub announced the launch of its so-called Behavioral Health Care Navigation Platform. The impetus for the platform is to “[assist] consumers in finding the proper care and resources, including both clinical and non-clinical options.” Finding the right type of professional support for one’s mental health can be daunting, so Psych Hub exists to make the work more accessible by simplifying it. As to the Behavioral Health Care Navigation Platform specifically, Psych Hub said in its press release that it “supports behavioral health providers and other care platforms in expanding their reach by connecting them with new clients, patients, and users.”
“Mental health challenges continue to be on the rise, with almost everyone needing help navigating the care ecosystem—either for themselves or a loved one—at least once in their lives,” said Psych Hub chief executive officer Scott Healy in a recent interview conducted over email. “We hear regularly from consumers how confusing, challenging, and often heart-breaking this experience can be. For years we have received daily feedback from consumers who share how helpful they find our educational content, but also their frustrations and struggles with finding the right care. When looking for care, individuals need a clearer path to quickly connecting with mental health and well-being options that address their specific conditions, factor in their preferences, cultural backgrounds, and lived experiences, and take into account the financial side of the equation, such as their insurance coverage.”
Healy, who has several family members and close friends who cope with mental health issues, explained Pysch Hub is the industry leader in “evidence-based mental health education dedicated to improving behavioral health outcomes for all through better access to evidence-based treatment practices.” The company’s roots are similar to Wysa as they lie in what Healy described as “creating highly engaging, video-based content for clinicians, as well as for consumers to help them better understand what they or their loved ones are going through from a mental health perspective.” The Behavioral Health Care Navigation Platform is a mobile-first experience that helps people easily find the right care for them, with Healy telling me the company’s digital assessments “guides care seekers by capturing the challenges they are experiencing, the level of impact on their daily functioning, and their care preferences.” The output is an individualized profile providing “targeted options from across the full spectrum of behavioral health care, from licensed and vetted therapists and psychiatrists to sub-clinical options like support groups, self-help apps, and video guides.”
“While the primary focus of the new platform is the consumer in need of help, providers of behavioral health services will also benefit by being connected to new clients, patients, and users who are a strong fit for their services and who are also more educated about the treatment path on which they are embarking,” Healy said. “The latter has been proven in multiple studies to lead to better treatment outcomes.”
Healy also said of the Behavioral Health Care Navigation Platform that it’s a “natural extension” to complement Psych hub’s existing offerings. He noted the Navigation Platform helps people who are researching mental health options by “deeper guidance and access to vetted, high quality providers and treatment options across the full spectrum of care modalities.” And in a nod to more accessibility, Psych Hub’s assessments means people are guided as to which avenues they should go down in treating their needs. All told, Psych Hub stands as an “objective ally for consumers as they navigate their mental health journeys.”
The accessibility case for Psych Hub is similar to Wysa’s, insofar as both companies are leveraging the power of the modern internet connection to help people more accessibly find care. It’s not trivial, as Healy himself acknowledged the daunt with which people face finding the right treatment for them. The problem is exacerbated if you’re someone who has a disability, especially multitudes of them, and literally can’t sit at one’s computer all day trying to do research in this realm. That Psych Hub effectively is a one-stop shop for care transcends convenience into life-altering territory quickly depending on one’s circumstances.
When asked about feedback, Healy said the reception towards the Behavioral Health Care Navigation Platform has been “overwhelmingly positive.” People are lauding the Navigation Platform’s “fresh approach” towards overcoming the challenges of navigating care options.
Moreover, customers have long been frustrated by the process of finding mental health services, adding the pandemic only made the feelings worse. There has long been dissatisfaction with what Healy characterized as “narrowly-focused therapist directories and complain about chronically out-of-date listings of practitioners on health insurance company websites.”
Healy boasted about a study commissioned by Psych Hub that surveyed 1,000 adults who have sought care for “mental health, addiction, or relationship issues.” 85% of respondents reported “they would have benefited from a solution like our Behavioral Health Navigation Platform if it had existed when they were seeking care,” he said.
Looking towards the future, Healy said Psych Hub will stay the course.
“Psych Hub was founded on the premise that there needs to be better dissemination and adoption of evidence-based practices to improve behavioral health outcomes,” he said of the company’s future. “Consistent with our vision is the slow but steady movement in behavioral healthcare towards measurement-based care, in which practitioners implement a course of treatment, measure the progress of their clients and patients, and adapt their treatment based on the specific individual’s results. This presents an opportunity for the industry, including Psych Hub’s navigation platform, to reinforce best treatment practices by prioritizing practitioners and services that can demonstrate the best outcomes. Additionally, we believe that the shortage of practitioners in mental health can be at least somewhat offset by better leveraging recent developments in forms of care that are less dependent on traditional one-on-one therapy. Group therapy and self-help apps that focus on specific conditions are examples that have proven to be highly effective in the right circumstances but are often overlooked as options. By leveraging the full spectrum of evidence-based treatment options and making it easy for consumers to access them, we can help everyone struggling with mental health, addiction, or relationship troubles get the care they need.”