Dive Brief:
- Highmark, which operates one of the largest Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in the U.S. with 5.2 million enrollees in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia is partnering with startup venture Quartet Health, the companies announced.
- Quartet aims to improve the integration and coordination of behavioral and physical healthcare.
- The deal is the biggest so far for Quartet, which recently raised $40 million in its Series B from GV (formerly Google Ventures), along with Oak HC/FT, F-Prime Capital Partners, and Polaris Partners.
Dive Insight:
The move comes as health insurers invest more highly in preventive care as well as mental health in an effort to avoid more costly hospitalizations down the road.
Quartet's role will be to mine Highmark's claims to help identify patients who should be evaluated for mental issues, addiction and behavioral health issues, and help coordinate a timely referral for appropriate care. In addition to appointments with specialists, Quartet provides supportive tools for telepsychiatry and online behavioral therapy.
“They will help us figure out who is diagnosed or should be diagnosed and we will use their technology to expedite and identify who is the appropriate mental health provider,” Highmark’s director of behavioral health, Dr. Duke Ruktanonchai, told Forbes. “We can then give data back to the primary care provider so there is better coordination of the patient’s care.”
The program will first be implemented in western Pennsylvania and is expected to help Highmark enrollees living with anxiety, depression and additional mental health conditions.