When it comes to the health care sector, the payers control the checkbook.
That’s one of the reasons startups, especially those in the mental health space, are clambering to ink deals with some of the largest private insurers in the country. But with many up-and-coming mental health startups and far fewer health plans, in order for partnerships to work, the pair need to be aligned on goals and outcomes.
One of those major insurers is Aetna, which has roughly 39 million members. Owned by CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Aetna is looking to expand mental health access via technology and community programs, while being selective about partners at the same time.
“When you think about how a partnership with us works, first of all, our goal is to democratize access,” Cara McNulty, president of the behavioral health and employee assistance program at Aetna, said during Going Digital Behavioral Health Tech. “And not just access – quality access to care for anyone we are serving, wherever they are at in their journey.”
Currently, Aetna’s mental health priority list runs the gamut from lower-acuity care, such as treating members with stress and anxiety, all the way to serious mental illness. And such an ambitious to-do list, McNulty explained, means that the organization needs an equally ambitious plan.
“In order to do that, we have a robust strategy,” she said. “That strategy is about guiding, connecting and reinventing.”
When it comes to working with outside startups, Aetna plays a role in initiating interactions with potential partners based on their needs. Yet it is also open to pitches.
“Partnering with us is a two-way connection,” McNulty said. “We may be reaching out to a partner or solution because we have heard about something that they have that would help us along this guiding, connecting and reinventing [journey]. Or they are reaching out to us and they are making us aware of what they have.”
One way that insurer proactively finds partners is through quarterly summits. McNutly said that these summits are a curated way for potential partners to share their products and experiences.
It’s also a way for potential partners to better understand the payer. For example, this type of event gives companies an insight into the types of questions the payer is asking and what kinds of partnerships it is looking for.
“We run a pretty tight process,” McNulty said. “There is just an influx of tech and digital providers, specifically in this mental health space. So we need a way to curate, to understand where people are at, and [where] these solutions are at and if they are a good fit for us.”
The goal of using technology
Whether it is provided via a digital partnership or an in-house tool, Aetna is looking to use technology to help meet the needs of patients earlier.
“When we say reinventing, we’re not interested in fixing a broken mental health system that was built in the 1800s,” McNulty said. “We are reinventing how we innovate, partner and drive care and outcomes. Working with us starts with understanding those three areas.”
Atena is looking to use digital measures such as social media and artificial intelligence tools to help spread awareness about mental health care.
Aetna set a goal of decreasing sucide attempts among its members by 25% by 2025. According to McNulty, the company has already seen a sucide-attempt reduction in the adult population by 22%.
The company did this by using data and insights to help flag at-risk behaivors and deploy proactive methods to prevent suicide attempts.
“We flew past our goals, which I am so so proud of and we couldn’t have done that without policy and systems, and technology and some risks,” McNulty said.
However, McNulty added that the company is still working to lower suicide-attempt rates in its pediatric population – especially those under 13 years old.
“So you see us deploying and researching innovation and resources around partnership and resources we can make in that child population,” McNulty said.
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