Why Behavioral Health Services for Young People Are More Critical Than Ever

Behavioral health providers have increasingly expanded their services, or specifically targeted, children, adolescents and young people to address these populations’ growing need for mental health treatment. New research has verified that the need for mental health services has only continued to increase. Rates of depression and anxiety have increased significantly across all demographics, according to […]

BetterHelp, Talkiatry Partner to Form One-Stop Solution for Employer Mental Health Needs

Virtual mental health provider BetterHelp has partnered with online psychiatry company Talkiatry, uniting both companies’ services for BetterHelp’s business clients. The partnership makes BetterHelp’s employer offering more valuable and provides a pipeline of patients to Talkiatry, company executives told Behavioral Health Business. “It’s always been difficult as well for employers to try and find a […]

Health Care Service Corporation Adds TMS Coverage for Adolescents as First-Line Treatment

Until recently, adolescents only had two treatment options for depression. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for adolescents in March, now represents a safe and effective third option. While TMS is relatively expensive compared to treatment modalities like pharmaceuticals, payers are increasingly covering the service for teens. Health Care […]

Cigna’s David Cordani, Business Leaders and Lawmakers Zoom In on Mental Health Care

Mental health has firmly become an issue that some of the most powerful business leaders and politicians actually want to talk about. The subject was in the spotlight last Tuesday when the Business Roundtable and managed care insurer The Cigna Group (NYSE: CI) convened a “Mental Health Summit” in Washington, D.C., that featured two U.S. […]

‘Missing an Opportunity’: Why Behavioral Health Providers Should Treat Sleep Disorders

Lack of sleep can increase a person’s chance of developing hypertension, diabetes, heart attack and stroke. There’s an intrinsic link to mental health and well-being, too. Sleep loss and behavioral health conditions can lead to a feedback loop in which lack of sleep worsens behavioral health conditions, and behavioral health conditions lead to lack of […]

Citing Increased Payer and Health System Demand, Brightside Health Expands into Teen Mental Health Services

Behavioral health providers are increasingly expanding care continuums to include teenagers and meet the growing need for age-specific care. Virtual behavioral health provider Brightside Health is the latest to do so. Announced Tuesday, its expansion into care options for teens aims to address what Brad Kittredge, founder and CEO of Brightside, calls a “teen mental […]

Mental Health Medication Trends: Antidepressants Up 21%, Opioids Down 17%

New research shows that the number of prescriptions written for stimulants and antidepressants is on the rise. Prescriptions for stimulants increased by 37.5% from 2019 to 2022, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The number of antidepressant prescriptions also increased, jumping up by 21%.  An increased share of stimulant and antidepressant […]

LifeStance Poised for M&A Comeback After Efficiency Overhaul

After a year and a half of scale-backs and tempered growth, LifeStance Health (Nasdaq: LFST) is planning a return to M&A. The target for that comeback: 2026. LifeStance is still completing processes designed to improve efficiency, David Bourdon, the company’s chief financial officer, said at the 22nd Annual Morgan Stanley Healthcare Conference on Wednesday. Along […]

Missed Opportunities: Nearly 25% of Overdose Deaths Had Chance for Intervention 

Behavioral health operators and regulators have largely advocated integrating substance use disorder (SUD) screenings and primary care to improve access to treatment. New evidence underscores the importance of this integration and the extent to which mental health and substance use overlap. More than 20% of people who die of drug overdoses also have mental health […]