A new mental health company named Guidelight Health has landed $16.35 million in funding, according to an SEC filing.
The startup offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) to adolescents and adults. Patients can access these programs either in-person or virtually. PHPs and IOPs provide an intermediate care alternative to traditional inpatient and outpatient services.
PHPs offer structured outpatient treatment that typically consist of at least 20 hours each week, according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI). Unlike an inpatient setting, patients can go home at the end of the day. Guidelight Health’s website says its PHP focuses on a coordinated and integrated treatment approach. Patients are offered a combination of individual therapy and group therapy. Its care team can conduct psychiatric evaluations and prescribe medications.
IOPs are lower level of care than PHPs and typically consist of at least six hours of treatment a week for adults, according to NAMI. Patients also receive individual and group therapy. Guidelight has day and evening program offerings.
The provider treats several mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, trauma, behavioral addiction, psychotic disorders and personality disorders, according to its website.
Guidelight’s leadership team includes Andy Cruz, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and medical director at Headway, who will be serving as chief medical officer, as well as Dean Hatcher, former president of MedExpress Urgent Care, who will be serving as COO, and Jordan Cox, former group VP of operations a SCA Health, who will be serving as the chief growth and strategy officer.
Behavioral Health Business has reached out to Guidelight’s leadership team for comment.
The behavioral health industry has seen a rise in IOPs in the last few years. IOPs and PHPs pose a way for patients to access less restrictive care and curb costs associated with an inpatient stay.
“If someone can be treated in an IOP setting versus an inpatient setting, on a per diem basis, it’s a fraction of the cost,” Terry Hyman, managing partner of Northwood Healthcare Partners, previously told BHB. “And if you can avoid that inpatient stay or a single ED visit, it is a highly economical alternative.”
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