by Carmine Di Maro

One Mind

Director

August 2024

The rapid increase in digital health services over the past decade, accelerated by the pandemic, has profoundly changed the landscape for healthcare at large. Nowhere is this more evident than in the behavioral health space, where access to quality, evidence-based treatments has been severely lacking. 

This is especially true for underserved groups and those living in rural populations. 

Companies striving to fix the problem

At the One Mind Accelerator, we’re constantly looking for innovative companies that can use technology to make a dent in these problems. Sanarai, for example, is leveraging therapists based in Latin America to provide affordable therapy to Spanish speakers no matter where they live. 

Somethings and Flourish Labs are increasing supply by harnessing the power of peer support, people with shared experiences talking through struggles in a non-clinical setting, to decrease waiting times and drive better outcomes for youth struggling with their mental health. 

Vita Health is tackling one of the most difficult challenges in healthcare by offering evidence-based interventions for suicide prevention backed by years of research from leaders in the field. 

A different approach altogether is Humans Anonymous, which has created an audio and text-based social network for youths to connect with each other directly and offer support and hope.

Cash-pay services are out of reach

The potential downside of technology on access is that many companies choose to bypass insurance and offer expensive cash-pay services that those most in need can’t afford to use. 

It’s an understandable problem as reimbursement rates have yet to catch up to the new virtual reality and getting paid for new care delivery methods such as peer support is still a struggle for many new companies. Insurance and providers are beginning to catch up and several influential payers are leading the charge in prioritizing new means of providing access. 

The benefit to them is decreased waiting times for members and the potential for significantly improved outcomes as a result. 

Making digital health tools more accessible

The opportunity for new and existing companies building in the space breaks down into three categories. 

1. The first is expanding supply through non-traditional sources such as peer support, psychiatric nurse practitioners (as is the case with Legion Health), and providing access to international providers (as with Sanarai). For lower acuity cases of anxiety, depression, and other indications this can be an effective way to provide treatment in a timely fashion, potentially as a holdover until clinical care can be delivered. Sometimes higher levels of care aren’t needed at all. Even for serious mental illness options like peer support can be a helpful complement to clinical resources. 

2. The second opportunity is in diagnosing mental illness more quickly and without the friction of needing to schedule an in-person visit. Dionysus Health has developed a multimodal diagnostic that is entirely home-based and can predict the likelihood of expectant mothers developing postpartum depression in their third trimester before symptoms develop. Solutions like this can significantly improve patient outcomes by getting access to treatments ahead of time and shortening the learning curve in finding the most efficacious interventions. 

3. The third opportunity is in increasing treatment options for highly (and wrongly) stigmatized conditions like Substance Use Disorder and other conditions that might inhibit a patient’s willingness to show up in person, at least at first. Anecdotally, during the pandemic, thousands of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings moved online due to restrictions on gathering in person. Many people who might never have attended a meeting in real life for fear of being recognized or sharing deeply personal problems face-to-face were able to receive help with many choosing to attend in-person meetings when they reopened. Building a level of comfort and safety online served as a bridge for those suffering to feel comfortable connecting in a physical space. 

The potential of digital health and virtual care is massive and we are only scratching the surface today. If you’re building something that is solving any of these challenges reach out to me directly at carmine.dimaro@onemind.org with questions.