September 7, 2023 – Community Health Systems and population health management company, Mindoula, announced plans today to implement an innovative program that integrates virtual behavioral health services into the primary care setting. The program, designed to help patients who are experiencing mental health concerns such as anxiety and depression, includes initial behavioral health assessments, care planning, systematic follow-up via digital and human interactions, and weekly review of the treatment plan. Community Health Systems will deploy Mindoula’s Collaborative Care program on a large scale across its national footprint to approximately 700 primary care providers, enhancing access to behavioral health care for thousands of patients.
Mental health disorders affect one of five Americans and the majority of those affected will never seek help. Older adults are at increased risk of depression as the condition is more common in people who also have other illnesses such as heart disease or cancer or whose function becomes limited. While depression is serious, it often gets better with counseling, medicine or other forms of treatment.
The Mindoula program leverages clinically-validated patient assessments to identify behavioral health needs and track changes in those needs over time, providing physicians with actionable intelligence to better manage patients with behavioral health needs. Patients engage with caregivers via the HIPAA-compliant Mindoula Messenger engagement app, text messaging for medication reminders and other treatments, secure two-way video, phone and encrypted email.
The collaborative care services model has been shown to double the effectiveness of depression care, improve physical wellbeing, and significantly reduce health care costs.