Citing Need to ‘Re-Focus Resources,’ Digital Therapy Platform Alma Lays Off 9% of Staff

The digital therapy enablement platform Alma has laid off 9% of its staff across most departments.

The New York City-based company, confirming the news, told Behavioral Health Business that “this was a strategic decision we made to re-focus resources” but didn’t specify the impetus for the move.

It added that the layoffs would help balance meeting the “expanding needs of the over 23,000 mental health providers we support” and its long-term sustainability.

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“Our mission is more important than ever, and we’re committed to helping providers build thriving, in-network practices and deliver much-needed care,” the company told BHB.

After further inquiry, an Alma spokesperson said the move was “part of a proactive approach to strengthening our offerings where we see emerging opportunities to better support our providers and their patients.”

Impacted employees were informed of their termination on Sept. 25. They received a severance package that includes COBRA coverage, stipends for mental health care and career support services, Alma told BHB.

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Alma, founded in 2017, is one of several software companies that hope to span chasms between payers, therapists and patients when it comes to in-network coverage. Working with health plans is a perennial headache for behavioral health providers, a problem that is amplified for the solo provider and small practices that make up the bulk of the outpatient mental health space.

The company has pitched its software and strategy to venture capital firms and met success. It has raised about $225 million in capital, according to PitchBook. It operates in all 50 U.S. states.

Providers work as members of the Alma network, paying monthly fees to access its practice management tools. These include an electronic health record (EHR), a telehealth platform, a scheduler, clinical assessment tools, and, most recently, an AI scribe.

Similar companies have also raised impressive amounts of money. This year alone, Headway raised $100 million while Grow Therapy raised $88 million.

While many of these types of therapy enablement companies herald a new way to access behavioral health benefits, they are also adept at charging credit cards. Last year, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) found that mental health “marketplace” companies were the fastest-growing in the U.S. in terms of spend on the platform “by a long shot.”

Headway, Alma and Rula Health (formerly known as Path Mental Health) ranked in the top 100 companies with the largest gross merchandise volume examined in the report.

This comes after more dramatic layoff news in the digital pediatric space.

Palo Alto, California-based Brighline announced last week it would halt virtually only services in 45 states, relaunch hybrid in-person/telehealth services in only five states and nix its enterprise commercial functions. Care for the “vast majority” of patients will therefore be wound down by the end of the year, BHB previously reported.

Earlier in the year, virtual addiction treatment provider Bicycle Health laid off about 15% of its workforce.

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