As GLP-1s for Weight Loss Become More Common, Providers Question Their Impact on Treating Eating Disorders

In 2021, Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt co-founded Within Health, a company with headquarters in Miami that provides telehealth for patients with eating disorders. Oliver-Pyatt has spent several years as a psychiatrist addressing eating disorders, which many providers recognize as one of the most complex and difficult to treat psychiatric problems. In the last year, a new […]

Rethinking Anorexia Treatment Requires Clinician Collaboration, End-of-Life Care Options

Anorexia nervosa has among the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric disorder. This trend is leading some behavioral health providers to strengthen collaborations with hospices in an effort to improve quality outcomes. Research shows that more than 5% of patients die within four years of a diagnosis from a variety of medical causes. Clinicians and […]

Headspace Targets College Students With Uwill Partnership

Digital mental health app Headspace is expanding its reach to college students through a new partnership, its latest in a series of collaborations with specialty providers and tech organizations. Headspace partnered with Uwill, a digital mental health platform that specifically caters to colleges and universities. The deal made Uwill Headspace’s exclusive partner in higher education. […]

Psychedelics, Virtual Reality Offer Novel Paths for Treating Eating Disorders 

Eating disorders have among the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness and remission rates among patients with eating disorders are, by some estimates, as low as 29%. New treatment modalities are urgently needed to improve outcomes, especially for people with severe and enduring eating disorders, industry insiders told Behavioral Health Business. Despite this, funding […]

Bridging the Gap: Behavioral Health Coaches Serve Unmet Need, But May Need Standardization 

In case you missed it, Behavioral Health Business has launched a new specialty publication for professionals in the substance use disorder space. You can subscribe to Addiction Treatment Business here: Subscribe today! The health coaching industry was initially focused on fitness and lifestyle goals but is now a common service line in the behavioral health […]

‘I Never Thought of It as A Business’: Closures Reveal Shakiness of the Traditional Eating Disorder Industry

Residential eating disorder treatment facilities are becoming somewhat of an endangered species. Over the last few months, the industry has seen a string of closures. Patients and payers have increasingly opted for virtual care models, shrinking the pool of patients residential treatment centers could serve in the first place. That pool was small to begin […]

Refresh Mental Health Shutters Eating Disorder Treatment Division

Refresh Mental Health, a subsidiary of Optum, will shutter its eating disorder treatment service line. The health care and related services behemoth confirmed Refresh will close its four eating disorder treatment brands. Evolve Healing Eating Disorders was the first center to close, shutting its doors permanently on Dec. 1. Optum is part of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based […]

Eating Disorder Industry Will Grapple With Higher-Acuity Cases, AI, Ozempic-Related Challenges in 2024

Eating disorder services remained in high demand in 2023. As a result, there were several major investments. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the industry. In late 2023, two large PE-backed behavioral health providers scaled back eating disorder services. Eating disorder providers will have to tackle increasingly complex, higher acuity cases in 2024, industry […]