More than a year after Cardinal Health subsidiary naviHealth snapped up RightCare Solutions, the cofounder of that business, Eric Heil, is embarking on another healthcare startup, this time in behavioral health. It is the latest example of a startup moving into what has become a hot digital health subsector.
BehaveCare is a Doylestown, Pennsylvania-based business Heil has cofounded with Brad Bennett, who previously led Maxim Healthcare Services. In an email, Eric Heil described the business this way:
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
In an email, Heil described the business this way:
“We want to make a positive difference for patients and their families with severe mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders,” and he and his cofounder are exploring many ways to do this, Heil said in an email.
The interest in improving care coordination for people with behavioral health issues and more closely aligning mental healthcare with traditional medicine has spurred the development of several startups. Some have developed a focus on substance abuse such as Pear Therapeutics, Addicaid and Annum Health, which was founded by AbleTo Founder Michael Laskoff to apply digital health to the problem of heavy drinking.
Telemedicine companies have made a push to add behavioral health as a specialty to their broader offerings with the idea that many people who might be put off seeing a psychiatrist or a psychologist might be more comfortable seeing one in the privacy of their home, such as Teladoc, Doctor on Demand and others.
Other companies that seek to provide behavioral health services include AbleTo, which applies a behavioral health coaching program to improve how health plan members manage chronic conditions.
Quartet helps primary care providers refer patients to mental health professionals in their region.
Pacifica Labs expanded on its direct to consumer model with a service for physicians to improve the way they monitor and work with patients to manage anxiety and stress. The service seeks to help clinicians generate more insights from patient data to customize treatment.
SilverCloud Health offers self-guided content across chronic illness, eating issues, stress, anxiety, and depression and provides customized versions of its programs to healthcare organizations.
Lantern developed an app to support cognitive therapy. Users do an assessment that functions as a self-evaluation. It provides daily exercises, which help users identify and restructure negative thoughts and the app also provides support and feedback.
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