Virtual mental health solutions were the latest segment to fall under the piercing gaze of the Peterson Health Technology Institute, and in typical PHTI fashion the reviews were mixed.
The evaluation incorporated over 5,000 articles, input from clinical advisors, and interviews with depressed or anxious patients to evaluate three kinds of mental health solutions on their clinical effectiveness and economic impact:
- Self-guided solutions – content that people can work through on their own, typically offered directly to employers or health plans (AbleTo, Dario, Headspace, Learn to Live, Meru Health, SilverCloud, Talkspace, Teladoc)
- Prescription digital therapeutics – FDA-cleared interventions often used in conjunction with clinician-supervised outpatient treatment (DaylightRx, Rejoyn)
- Blended-care solutions – build on self-guided treatment with integrated virtual care teams of therapists and psychiatrists (AbleTo, Brightside, Headspace, Koa Health, Lyra, Meru Health, Modern Health, Spring Health, Talkspace, Teladoc)
The good news? All 15 of the solutions produced meaningful improvements in symptoms of anxiety and depression, especially for patients not already in therapy.
The catch? While these solutions have the potential to improve access and outcomes, their net impact on overall spending varies by payor and category.
- Self-guided solutions demonstrate clinically meaningful improvements in both anxiety and depression (6.9-point reduction in PHQ-9), with a relatively low cost (~$2 PMPM) that’s estimated to reduce spending in commercial settings by $0.30 PMPM.
- Prescription digital therapeutics deliver equally strong symptom improvement, and because they’re expected to be reimbursed on a per user basis (~$280 per episode) rather than across all plan members, they save an estimated $0.72 PMPM.
- Blended-care platforms show the strongest clinical outcomes, but with pricing models (~$6 PMPM plus $792 in annual therapy costs per user) that tend to increase overall health spending by an estimated $2.10 PMPM.
The Takeaway
PHTI gave virtual mental health solutions a glowing report card, and it seems like even the lone negative review – blended-care platforms – have their place for patients with severe symptoms.
