Transcarent, a digital platform for self-insured employers and their employees, announced a new behavioral health service which offers members virtual and in-person care options.
Specifically the company is looking to cut down on how long its members have to wait to see a mental healthcare provider. Using this new service members will be able to access a therapy appointment within three business days of making a request.
To put that in perspective, the average wait time for an initial mental health assessment is 10 weeks, according to the Massachusetts-focused Association for Behavioral Healthcare report.
Dr. Jeff Dobro, Transcarent’s chief innovation officer, told Behavioral Health Business that the company is able to reduce time to care in three ways. The first is providing upstream identification, and proactively detecting members behavioral health needs. This is done through pairing members with a dedicated health guide, who can help surface resources to members and can identify behavioral health needs.
Secondly, the company said it leverages intake assessments for each member to help provide a personalized care plan to match them to the appropriate resources and content from the get-go. Lastly, the company said it is focused on operational efficiencies.
“Our Behavioral Health providers are required to integrate their calendars within our digital solution for real-time, accurate availability,” Dobro wrote in an email to BHB. “Gone are the days of “ghost networks” with high rates of incorrect provider director info or emailing back and forth to establish an appointment time. With 1 click, a Member can schedule an appointment directly with the appropriate provider – whether for coaching, therapy, or medication management needs. We deeply integrate with care partners and require performance guarantees.”
The San Francisco-based company is also promising that members will be able to chat with a physician within 60 seconds around the clock, who can help assess and treat behavioral health needs. If needed, the service is also able to bring a psychiatrist into the chat to help evaluate the patient and prescribe medications.
Founded by Livongo-vet Glen Tullman, Transcarent works with self-insured employers and their employees on a fully at-risk model. The company emerged out of stealth mode in 2021. Since launching the company has rolled out its everyday care, MSK and surgery care, and oncology care offerings.
Earlier this year Transparent raised a whopping $200 million in Series C funding, bringing its total raise to just under $300 million.
“We’ve streamlined the Member experience and created one single point of access for all health and care needs,” Dorbo said in a statement. “Through a comprehensive dynamic intake assessment, we guide Members to a personalized care plan and match them to the right providers, removing the barriers and saving time, money, and unneeded frustration.”
In addition to virtual and in-person visits, Transcarent is also offering its members on-demand self-service digital resiliency and cognitive behavioral therapy tools. Members will also have access to medication management resources.
In the future, Dorbo said that Transcarent is exploring three new areas: building additional relationships with facilities for inpatient behavioral health needs including substance use care, psychiatric care and eating disorder, delivering more condition-specific care and expanding its substance use disorder offering to include more outpatient and inpatient care offerings.
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