Beyond Trial-and-Error: How Precision Psychiatry Is Revolutionizing Mental Health Care

Behavioral health providers are hungry for meaningful innovations in treatment modalities. A cutting-edge technique known as precision psychiatry could be an answer to fostering more timely and improved outcomes, experts told Behavioral Health Business. This practice, an application of the more general term precision medicine, requires significant data and technology investments, however, which could hamper […]

Medicaid, Elevated Behavioral Health Utilization Had Payers Talking in Q3

The ongoing need for behavioral health services will be no surprise to anyone involved in the industry. Patients continue to have high rates of need and often present with greater acuity. This demand for behavioral health services was reflected across payers’ Q3 earnings calls. The result? Sky-high utilization levels. For example, David Cordani, the CEO […]

Earnings Season Proved Behavioral Health Is Under the Spotlight and the Microscope

The coronavirus pandemic and massive influx of capital into the industry over the past five years have put the behavioral health industry centerstage in the proverbial play that is American health care. But the spotlight eventually attracts the microscope. The industry has and will continue to face greater scrutiny, examination, criticism and challenges than ever […]

‘I Could See More Players Pursuing This Model’: Behavioral Health Joint Ventures ‘Proliferating’

The number of joint venture partnerships between hospitals and behavioral health care providers will continue to climb, despite the lumbering process of finalizing such a pairing. “I do think there’s been some challenges in the last year or two that have maybe slowed deals down a shade,” William Teague, managing director of VMG Health, said […]

Going Nuclear: In Suing NIMBY Cities, Behavioral Health Providers Face Major Dilemma

Earlier this year, the city commission of Stuart, Florida, said “no” to a zoning variance requested by Behavioral Health Centers LLC, which sought to repurpose an existing building into a mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) center. The commission, and residents of the Florida Treasure Coast town, feared that the clinic’s patients would cause […]

‘In Marriage, You Can Get Divorced’: The Hidden Complexities of Selling a Behavioral Health Business

Finding a buyer for your behavioral health company is similar to marriage, except there’s more commitment. “It’s not like marriage, because in marriage, you can get divorced, and in this, I think, it might be a little messy,” said Sam Himelstein, the co-founder and CEO of Family Spring, a mental health treatment company based in […]

Build, Lease or Buy: Behavioral Health Providers Debate Best AI Strategies

Behavioral health providers are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency, personalize treatment pathways and produce outcomes. How best to develop an AI-enabled technology stack remains unclear, however. While leasing AI technology from vendors is a relatively easy path to keep up with the digital Joneses, providers with more specialized needs or those looking […]

Investors Still Betting Big on Behavioral Health Despite Government’s Scrutiny of Private Equity

Every story is better with a villain. In the eyes of the federal government, the behavioral health treatment industry’s villain is private equity. At least, that’s the impression of lenders and private equity investors. Despite this view, lenders and PE believe that increased scrutiny on private equity from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department […]

As Dealmaking Cools, Eating Disorder Treatment Providers Reassess

Eating disorder treatment providers say they face a slew of challenges, including how to attract patients and best differentiate themselves from their competitors. At a Behavioral Health Business INVEST panel in Dallas earlier in October, Abhilash Patel, CEO and co-founder of Within Health, and Thomas Britton, CEO of Accanto Health, spoke bluntly about an industry […]