This article is sponsored by Sunwave Health. This article is based on a discussion with Jennifer Carvalho, CEO of Portage LLC and Jeff Rosen, Account Executive at Sunwave. This discussion took place on October 8th, 2024 at the BHB INVEST conference.

Jeff Rosen: I’ve been with Sunwave for about eight years. Just to give some context, Sunwave is a behavioral health platform composed of modules that support operations—from call center operations and medication management to revenue cycle, financial reporting, and our proprietary AI, MARA. I’ve been involved in hundreds of demos, implementations, and discussions with executives about workflow challenges. I’m here to provide insights from that experience.

Jennifer Carvalho: My background is in executive leadership in behavioral health, serving in roles such as nonprofit CEO, market CEO for Acadia Behavioral Health, and division president for Discovery Behavioral Health. My insights come not only from my leadership roles but also from personal experience—25 years ago, I was a client in this space.

Because of that experience, I’ve always been dedicated to operational excellence, with a focus on clinical quality that drives life-changing outcomes. The last five years in our industry have been quite a ride. We’re here to discuss how operational and clinical excellence can benefit investors, fostering profits while maintaining exceptional reputations.

Jeff and I have bonded over shared interests in process and systems. The story I want to tell is about how clinical quality and operational excellence drive profits for investors. Does anyone here identify as an investor? Any operators?

Rosen: What you’re talking about is an interdependent ecosystem. Providers’ day-to-day operations are deeply intertwined across departments. When I see operators evaluating software, it’s often fragmented, with each department addressing their specific needs separately. Instead, I suggest bringing department heads together and asking, “How do you process an intake with the nursing team?” This kind of interconnected thinking leads to more cohesive processes across the organization.

Carvalho: The behavioral health industry has seen immense growth. The American behavioral health market reached $152 billion in 2023 and is expected to register a CAGR of 3.7% in the next eight years. There’s greater awareness of mental health needs, especially since the pandemic reduced stigma and increased people’s willingness to seek help. This represents a huge opportunity for investors to support life-changing care with a significant ROI.

Rosen: On that note, I was recently chatting with a finance friend in South Florida. He mentioned considering investing in sober living, and I laughed, saying, “You’re about 10 years too late.” He noted that when people like him enter the field, the market is usually saturated. While there’s still tremendous opportunity, the cost of quality operations has skyrocketed.

Carvalho: At its core, addiction and mental health treatment rely on human connections. Clinical programming is nothing without that human-centered aspect. An engaged and invested staff is essential to creating a safe, therapeutic environment. Yet, despite our reliance on people, they’re often the last to feel valued or invested in. Part of our focus today is exploring how to better support these teams.

Rosen: For the past year, since we launched our AI, MARA, I’ve been asking clinicians and staff about burnout. Surprisingly, they say the burnout doesn’t come from therapy itself—it’s from the documentation required. They’d rather spend more time with patients than document their work.

Carvalho: Behavioral Health Business recently surveyed providers, and 54% reported that staffing is the biggest barrier to growth. We all know the industry faced severe staffing challenges during the pandemic, but it’s still a significant issue today. The average turnover rate in our industry is 31.3%, and many operators here know it’s often even higher. High turnover, practitioner shortages, hard-to-fill shifts, and absenteeism all create enormous strain. Burnout further drives turnover and increases wage demands.

Rosen: I sell a product that comes with an experience, just like your services. The patient experience reflects the staff experience. If the staff are juggling different systems, that disjointed experience impacts the patient’s journey. Seamless integration across departments supports better patient and staff experiences alike.

Carvalho: To drive this home, clinical and operational excellence are equally vital. If we invest in people, we enhance retention and reduce burnout. Staff want to spend time with patients, but documentation requirements make that difficult. That’s where MARA comes in. Jeff, would you mind explaining?

Rosen: Absolutely. MARA is our proprietary AI embedded within the Sunwave platform. It helps reduce the documentation burden by using AI to streamline assessments, treatment plans, and group notes. MARA can analyze and summarize patient data across all records in seconds, which normally takes clinicians 30 to 45 minutes. This is not only efficient but also ensures documentation quality, which is essential for compliance and reimbursement.

Carvalho: Documentation like biopsychosocial assessments, treatment plans, and group notes are crucial for justifying payer authorization. These tasks are time-consuming, and if they’re not done correctly, insurers won’t reimburse for services. MARA can expedite these processes, generating accurate summaries and treatment plans in minutes instead of hours.

Rosen: This AI functionality isn’t just available for assessments; it also applies to group notes. Imagine a therapist conducting three groups a day with 10 clients each, needing to write 30 differentiated notes. That documentation burden is overwhelming, and it often leads to burnout. MARA can automatically create unique, individualized notes based on participant responses, reducing the time needed for these administrative tasks.

Carvalho: Supporting clinical staff with tools like MARA means investing in their well-being. When clinicians feel less burdened, they’re more engaged with patients and less likely to leave the profession due to burnout. We all want to maximize productivity, but documentation overload takes away from patient care. A solution like MARA helps alleviate that, allowing clinicians to focus on what matters most: people.

Rosen: We understand that AI technology must align with regulatory standards, so everything produced by MARA is reviewed by a clinical supervisor before it’s submitted. This ensures compliance while reducing time-consuming corrections. MARA even prompts users to verify their notes, so nothing goes unreviewed.

Carvalho: The aim of today’s presentation was to illustrate the interconnectedness of operational and clinical quality. By investing in people and technology, we can create a sustainable model that not only benefits investors but also provides exceptional care to patients. We need purpose-driven work in this field, and that requires supporting staff and patients alike. It all leads to expanded profits and stronger outcomes.

Sunwave drives healthy results for mental health and Substance Use Disorder treatment providers through a fully integrated solution that delivers traditional capabilities provided by CRM, EMR, RCM, and billing solutions. To learn more, visit: https://www.sunwavehealth.com/.