Our last blog discussed insights from innovative serious mental illness startups. One of the featured companies was Mindstrong Health. Their CEO, Michelle Wagner, gave a hope-filled opening session at Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech 2022 this year

We wanted to dive deeper into Mindstrong’s process, including how they are revolutionizing serious mental illness care, measuring outcomes, and partnering with payers. You can read our conversation below.

How is Mindstrong revolutionizing mental health care for serious mental illnesses (SMI)? 

SMI populations are hard to treat, hard to engage, and as a result, are populations that are overlooked and underserved.  Supporting this population requires not only outstanding clinical care, but also the creativity and nuance to meet members where they are on their mental health journey.  

Mindstrong's blend of proven science, state-of-the-art technology, and dedicated care teams are the secret sauce behind our ability to help members feel better, do better, and stay better.  We believe in mental health care for all and specialize in serious or complex challenges. It may take more work, and we’re committed to better outcomes for everyone. 

The Mindstrong App & Care Platform includes measurement-based clinical care, customized interventions, case management and resources for SDoH needs;  24/7 support for all acuity levels, with a specialization in SMI gives our members the safety net they need to build confidence in their care.  Our integrated care team includes Care Partners, Therapists, Psychiatric NPs, and MDs.  Each Care team is a tailored blend of provider(s) based on members’ specific needs and preferences. Mindstrong is mental health care with the strength to tackle anything. 

What measurements are taken to evaluate progress in members?

Care delivery at Mindstrong relies on data to inform our Measurement-Based Care (MBC) approach to enable progress tracking and aiding in clinical decision making.

Bringing together technology, data, and care, we measure member progress on an ongoing basis to ensure that member needs and changes are continually assessed and met.

Our proprietary platform sends intelligent, clinically-informed symptom surveys to members automatically, in between sessions.

We use clinically validated assessments including DSM-5 and Level 2 PROMIS.  Providers use the Level 2 PROMIS Assessment information to better define the qualitative nature of the problems, determining a more accurate diagnosis, and developing measurable treatment goals. 

We complement the clinical assessments with post-session assessments and ongoing Care Plan reviews, to ensure we’re constantly meeting the needs and evaluating progress of members in a truly personalized way.

In addition, we are constantly measuring through member surveys like mood surveys and therapeutic alliance.

All assessments are automated based on smart logic that is built into the backend. This reduces the burden for our providers to have to manually send or administer questionnaires to members.

MBC has been shown to outperform treatment as usual, where data is a powerful tool in amplifying care effectiveness.

MBC also empowers and engages the member in their care by giving them the ability to track their progress toward their health and wellness goals and openly discuss their progress with providers.

How do you partner with payers to support SMI members?

We partner with payers who are shaping and leading the way in value based care. Mindstrong specializes in payers’ high-cost and often overlooked members, including those with SMI conditions and older populations. 

In our partnerships, we reduce TCOC for payers and improve clinical outcomes for members. We do this by focusing on outstanding clinical care, high-touch acquisition, whole-person care including SDoH and care coordination, predictive analytics based on passive data from members, and care teams that partner with members to eliminate roadblocks members experience in achieving their mental health goals.

Our start-of-the-tech, proven science, and dedicated care teams enable high member  engagement, real-time crisis intervention, and ongoing monitoring.

The results are improved financial outcomes for partners and improved outcomes for members.

For those interested in learning more, please reach out to Ceili Cascarano at ceili.cascarano [ at ] mindstronghealth [dot] com.