It’s officially #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth, making it a great time to show some genuine support to your friends and colleagues, and an opportune moment for virtual care providers like Amwell to launch behavioral health solutions.
Amwell recently debuted the Amwell Comprehensive Behavioral Health Program, combining the digital cognitive behavioral therapy programs of SilverCloud Health (acquired last year) with virtual care provided by psychiatrists from Amwell Medical Group.
- Members undergo individual evaluations before selecting either self-guided or coach-supported care, and can then be referred to virtual therapy and psychiatry as needed.
- The solution can be tailored to meet specific population needs, enabling payors and providers to deliver personalized experiences for various severities and care delivery preferences.
The new program extends Amwell’s growing suite of behavioral health tools, which includes Amwell Psychiatric Care for acute psychiatric needs and ED clinical support, as well as the SilverCloud Health Family Support Suite to help new parents and their children manage mental health concerns.
- Behavioral health is one of healthcare’s most capacity-strained areas, and the pandemic has only exacerbated the problem.
- Amwell cites research that 60% of US counties don’t have a single psychiatrist, and that 41% of adults have felt anxious or depressed during the pandemic.
The Takeaway
Amwell is clearly committed to quickly scaling its virtual behavioral health portfolio, which is a pretty natural direction to pursue given the huge need and telehealth’s ability to help address it. Behavioral health might also be one of the only clinical areas where telehealth represents a truly preferred substitute to in-person care, and Amwell’s recent investment in the area should go a long way toward making its services durable as patients begin returning to in-person care.
