Optum-Backed Refresh Mental Health Acquires CARE Counseling

Optum-owned Refresh Mental Health has acquired fast-growing outpatient mental health provider CARE Counseling, according to several sources close to the matter. The deal marks the second Optum-affiliated outpatient mental health acquisition in the last few years. In 2022, Optum acquired what was ostensibly the second-largest outpatient mental health company: Jacksonville Beach, Florida-based Refresh Mental Health. […]

5 Mental Health Companies to Watch in 2024

After a rocky 2023, mental health providers are considering new approaches to growth and sustainability. In the wake of the bursting venture funding bubble and cooling M&A market, providers are taking stock of their assets and looking for new revenue generation. Some providers have opted for new partnership opportunities with public entities, such as state […]

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 […]

5 Mental Health Companies to Watch in 2023

With macroeconomic headwinds leading to declining valuations and less M&A activity, the mental health space is at a crossroads. The notoriously fragmented industry is still prime for maturation, but many companies are facing growing pains. Several companies that came onto the public market during the 2021 boom year are struggling to keep up with investor […]

Patient Matching Sets Providers and Patients Up for Success — If Done Right

The pressure on behavioral health providers to improve outcome measures may make patient-matching technology a crucial part of their tech stack. The hope is that providers and patients alike are set up to succeed at the outset of treatment, accelerating the development of the oft-vaunted therapeutic alliance in behavioral health. If behavioral health organizations successfully […]

UnitedHealth Group Announces Free Behavioral Health Coaching

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) gave select health insurance members free access to virtual behavioral health coaching. The company announced Thursday that certain commercial health insurance members gained access to the service on Jan. 1, 2023. The move impacts 5 million members on fully insured plans. Self-insured employers may purchase access to the service, according to […]

Top 10 Behavioral Health Stories of 2022: How ABA Layoffs, Value-Based Care and Dealmaking Defined the Year

The year 2022 saw several growing pains and tough lessons in the behavioral health industry. Two years after the onset of a world-altering pandemic, the behavioral health industry saw adjustments and reactions to a lot of new developments. The industry did so while grappling with several of its chronic headaches such as workforce shortages and […]

The Deals that Defined Behavioral Health Investment in 2022

Dealmaking has made behavioral health one of the most interesting segments of the health care sector. And 2022 was no exception even after a historic 2021. Behavioral Health Business has identified a handful of deals that caught our eye as we look back at the year that was 2022. Not all of them are big-dollar […]

What Behavioral Health Providers Need to Know When Negotiating Value-Based Care Contracts with Payers

Behavioral health providers can up their negotiation game with payers by shifting their attitude about the provider-payer dynamic and investing in their business systems. The last few years have seen a shift in the most potent payers’ attitudes toward behavioral health. UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH), for example, has established holistic care models, including value-based […]

Risky Business: The Build-Versus-Buy Crossroads for Mental Health Companies

As economic headwinds make smaller tuck-in mental health deals an appealing prospect in 2023, some larger providers may opt to slow their M&A strategy altogether in favor of de novos.  Tuck-in acquisitions take time, vetting and money. And in some cases, even after all that, transactions can fail to meet the buyer’s expectations and never […]