Demand for mental health services is steadily growing. However, care is often extremely inconsistent due to a lack of measurement-based care, or the use of repeated patient measurements to track progress.
That’s why Array Behavioral Care, a virtual mental health company, introduced a new model last week called Care Pathways. The model aims to make mental health treatment more consistent and personalized while also improving patient outcomes.
Chicago-based Array Behavioral Care provides virtual psychiatry and therapy and partners with hospitals, health systems, community organizations and payers for referrals. With Care Pathways, patients are matched to personalized care plans based on factors like clinical urgency, acuity, medical and psychiatric history, co-occurring conditions, medication history and social determinants of health.
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These factors help determine whether a patient needs a therapist, a psychiatrist or both — and what level of care is appropriate. Patients are then regularly assessed on their progress, and the providers can adjust their care plan accordingly. These assessments include the PHQ-9, which is used for depression, and the GAD-7, which is used for anxiety.
Since Care Pathways is embedded into Array’s Epic-based platform, clinicians have shared access to each patient’s physical and behavioral health records. This improves care coordination and ensures treatment plans are consistent with other providers’ diagnoses and medications, according to Dr. Sara Gotheridge, chief medical officer of the company.
“This integration also allows us to support continuity of care across settings, such as when a patient transitions from an ED visit to home-based outpatient treatment. Where patients were once left to navigate these transitions alone, we can now deliver a seamless, clinically aligned experience,” she told MedCity News.
Array Behavioral Care also employs W-2 employees versus independent 1099 contractors, which further supports the use of this model. According to Gotheridge, 1099 contractors are not always fully trained and “jump in and out of care based on availability.”
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In launching the Care Pathways model, the company ultimately aims to provide more personalized mental healthcare that allows for better outcomes and more “efficient use of clinical resources,” Gotheridge added.
“By structuring care delivery around standardized assessments and clinical indicators, we’re able to guide treatment intensity, provider type, and visit frequency based on each patient’s needs, in addition to adjusting care as those needs evolve,” Gotheridge stated. “This approach allows us to reduce variability, apply measurement-based care at scale, and ensure patients receive the right level of support at the right time.”
She added that Array will measure the success of the model by evaluating indicators of patient progress over time, how effectively care is tailored to acuity, and the impact on outcomes and cost.
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