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Welcome to The Census, your weekly roundup of what matters in behavioral healthcare.

Top stories this week: 

• On Our Radar: Providers are turning to concierge care.

• Catch Up Quick: The latest news headlines in under two minutes. 

• One Good Thing: Californian teens can now seek therapy on their own.

Let’s dive in.

- Shân

P.S. Is your company working on something cool we should write about? Tell us in our (VERY SHORT AND FUN) reader survey. 

Reading time this week: ~4 minutes.

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On Our Radar

What we’re watching this week 

💸 Behavioral Healthcare Providers Cash In on Concierge Care

The model means patients get fast access to care and more support, while physicians enjoy high membership fees and lighter caseloads. But not everyone’s happy.

This article recently caught our eye, and the TL;DR is that many non-profit hospitals now offer $4k+/year concierge primary care services to anyone who will pay. 

It got us digging (our forte) into concierge care in behavioral health. Big money, it turns out. But first, a little explanation:

• Concierge care (CC) is where doctors offer services to patients directly for an upfront membership fee

• This is just for priority access to the doctor; you still have copayments, deductibles, medicine costs, etc.

• Advocates say CC means happier doctors and healthier patients

• Critics say it contracts the availability of doctors for the general population

🤑 The kicker: CC enrollment corresponds with a ~40% increase in total healthcare spending by patients.

And behavioral healthcare providers are getting on board. They’re offering CC services from small ~$40/month add-ons to whopping $10k+/year memberships.

👀 Besides an uptick in behavioral health CC, it’s key to note that primary CC doctors can spend more (attentive) time with patients — which allows for better integration of primary and behavioral health care. 

• Partnerships between behavioral health providers and primary care concierge doctors could be a huge opportunity

We’ll keep you updated. Let’s move on to your news headlines.

Catch Up Quick

This week’s top stories

News & Announcements

🤝 Talkiatry has partnered with healthcare financial engagement platform Cedar to optimize patients’ billing experience. 

🕵️ The Senate will investigate whether ER care has been harmed by the growing role of private equity (a reminder that 40% of American ERs are overseen, staffed, or managed by PE-owned firms).

🤦 ACA plans are being switched without enrollees’ knowledge — potentially leaving them unable to see their doctors or fill prescriptions. 

😅 Cash-strapped digital health startups are scrambling for lifelines as the 2021/22 boom in funding (and investor delulu) dissipates. 

🚨 41 people have been charged in a huge poly-drug indictment linked to a cartel.

🏥 A new $13M mental health center has broken ground in the Bay Area.

👮 Oregan is recriminalizing drug possession after its ‘treatment over punishment’ experiment failed. 

🏥 Urgent care clinics for mental health are growing across the States amid increased demand and long provider waits.

💻 Virtual treatment alone can’t solve the SUD epidemic, experts caution.

📲 Banning teens from social media won’t help their mental health — but embedding single-session interventions (SSIs) into online spaces might.

🏝️ California is offering free fentanyl test strips for ‘safe’ drug use as it seeks to eliminate the shame surrounding drug addiction.

👀 NYC’s mental health shelters cost ~$260M a year to run — but they’re chaotic at best and do little to help patients. 

💰 For-profit companies are opening psychiatric hospitals in areas that have a shortage of inpatient beds for people with SMIs.

👨‍⚖️ A Texas judge is pioneering court-supervised mental health treatment programs.

⚠️ Providers who cede data to payers in SUD value-based care models have to “take their word for it” (spoiler, but no surprise: their word is often hooey).  

🧑‍💼 Related: Payers and providers are pushing for more measurement-based care in behavioral health, but key stakeholders need to buy in. 

📝 A new bill aims to increase behavioral health providers’ in-network participation and crack down on inaccurate provider directories.

🧑‍💻 A larger non-clinical workforce is one of three trends shaping behavioral healthcare. 

💰 CMS has proposed a 2.7% increase in the payment rate of inpatient psychiatric facilities for 2025 — amounting to ~$70M.

🔎 Four autism therapy companies to watch in 2024, per BHB. 

💥 Acadia Healthcare announced three new acquisitions amid ambitious 2024 growth plans.  

📉 DarioHealth reported a 47% decrease in revenue following its Twill acquisition.

🏫 Michigan's Lake Superior University has launched a new initiative to provide better teletherapy and crisis support.

💻 Virtual pediatric behavioral healthcare firm Fort Health plans to integrate with 450+ primary care providers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

🎲 Sports betting company DraftKings has teamed up with Kindbridge Behavioral Health to provide therapy to players at risk of gambling problems.

💳 Some Medicaid providers are going into debt amid payment disruptions caused by the ‘unwinding.’

📱 FOLX Health has partnered with Crisis Text Line to provide 24/7 free text-based mental health support services.

🎓 ABA accreditation body BHCOE has rebranded to Jade Health. 

The Latest Studies

⚠️ 55% of teens use social media to self-diagnose their mental health issues, per a new poll.  

🥦 79% of participants with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia showed clinically meaningful psychiatric improvement on a ketogenic diet. 

🤯 The common plastic additive BPA may play a role in autism and ADHD development.

🍷 More women are drinking themselves sick as experts warn the opioid crisis may overshadow AUD.

🦵 People with eczema experience more psychological distress, a study has found; significant, given that 31M+ Americans live with the skin condition.

🧠 Neurodegenerative disorders have been linked to higher brain acidity.

Tech & AI

📲 Rejoyn, a smartphone prescription digital therapeutic by Otsuka and Click Therapeutics, just got FDA clearance. 

🤖 Sunwave Health launched MARA, an ‘AI Agent’ designed to streamline behavioral health documentation and patient notes. 

♻️ Autonomous inpatient coding is around the corner, say revenue cycle experts. 

🔎​​ The evolution of Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) in healthcare: Eight emerging trends to watch, per HIT Consultant. 

🪜 Generative AI and integration are key to bridging the payer-provider gap, according to a new report. 

Funding Rounds & Investor Moves

🌎 $14M for Limbic Health, a London-based mental health AI company expanding into the US. 

💉 $3.4M for Peregrine Health, an SUD treatment firm driving behavioral health and primary care integration in rural areas (SEC filing). 

💼 $2.6M for Poppins Health, a health plan for small businesses offering behavioral health coverage (SEC filing). 

❤️‍🩹 $1.2M for Central Nassau, a mental health and SUD nonprofit in Hicksville (SEC filing). 

🧾 $2M for Goodbill, a Seattle-based hospital billing accuracy platform.

💊 $58M for Pelago, a virtual clinic for personalized SUD treatment.

💰 $30M for InStride Health, a virtual pediatric behavioral health provider focused on anxiety and OCD treatment.

💵 Diagnostic tool Autism Eyes was acquired by behavioral health virtual reality company Floreo. 

💳 SUD clinic Project Recovery was acquired by telehealth firm QuickMD as they expand their in-person treatment services.

📉 Healthcare IT dealmaking had an abysmal 2023, per PitchBook’s new report. 

📈 In contrast, behavioral health-focused revenue cycle management services and software companies are allegedly “poised for outsized growth.”

One Good Thing

❤️ California Expands Insurance Access for Teens Seeking Therapy

Historically, Medi-Cal plans haven’t covered therapy unless teens got permission from a parent or guardian. 

This created a ton of admin (and red tape) for youngsters needing counseling — not least dragging a parent along to sessions with them or breaking cultural barriers. 

Now a new law has removed the parental consent requirement, allowing teens to get therapy on their own. 

Importantly, this will expand the number of mental health clinicians in California willing to treat young people on Medi-Cal — as well as, of course, support for teens. More here. 

That’s it for this week, see you next Wednesday with the latest headlines!

- Shân

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