Earlier this year we shared news of a partnership between Welkin Health, a technology platform on which organizations can build their own digital therapeutic solutions, and Common Sensing, developers of the Gocap, a dose-capturing insulin pen cap, to evolve the paradigm of at-home diabetes management. Recently, Welkin Health announced a new partnership with Lyra Health to provide businesses with high quality behavioral health services for their employees and family members.
Welkin’s modular case management platform captures health information and facilitates communication between patients and providers. Through the platform, contextual patient data is made available to clinical decision makers through customizable workflows.
According to Lyra’s VP of Operations, Elaine Yang, leveraging Welkin’s technology platform allows Lyra to focus on the role of “finding high quality and accessible behavioral health care for employers and their employees” rather than processes. Recognizing the need to manage employee’s emotional and mental well-being for increased productivity and lower costs of medical care, Lyra not only improves the accessibility of behavioral health services but proactively assesses treatment outcomes to ensure high quality patient care.
In a statement, Welkin’s CEO Chase Hensel, commented that “Many of us spend the majority of time at work. We’re excited to support Lyra…helping individuals living with behavioral health needs improve their well-being by getting the help they need.” Medgadget had a chance to speak with Chase and get a little more information about the new partnership.
Medgadget: Where did the Lyra and Welkin partnership come from?
Chase Hensel: Lyra was referred to Welkin by a VC firm. They were looking for a centralized hub to house all of their very complex workflows and capabilities. We developed an end-to-end solution that would serve to expedite their work, widening access to high quality behavioral health care services for employers and their employees.
Medgadget: What are the challenges with access to behavioral health in the workforce today? How does Lyra improve upon that standard?
Hensel: Access to behavioral health care can be challenging to navigate, period, but the workplace can be an especially intimidating place where stigma associated with mental health and illness is very real and prevalent. Many employees forgo getting help because they are afraid of losing their jobs or fear judgement from bosses or colleagues. Others don’t know where to begin looking to find effective care. This is why we feel Lyra’s work is so impactful.
Recognizing the importance of emotional health in our workforce, Lyra’s technology simplifies what can normally be an arduous process, and helps employers find proven effective, high quality behavioral health support for their employees. Lyra’s technology removes the barriers people often face, providing clients and their families with immediate, ongoing help from a behavioral health provider who can best meet their needs.
Medgadget: Tell us a little more about how Lyra is using Welkin’s data capture and communication platform to further these efforts?
Hensel: Utilizing Welkin’s platform, Lyra wholly focus on their clients rather than processes. They can house their workflow in one, centralized location—this includes routing inbound and after hours calls, connecting clients with care team members, connecting clients to other workplace service providers if needed, and managing client care plans and assessments.
Workflows are customizable, and prompts, health assessments and care plans are configurable so that all interactions between providers and clients are personalized, meaningful and immediate. The more a provider knows about the person they are treating, the more impactful care will be. Our platform captures this important client data to make such insights possible and actionable.
Medgadget: What does Welkin bring to the table that changes or improves upon what Lyra was able to achieve before the partnership?
Hensel: A 360 degree view of each client’s journey is key to providing care that is actually effective. These insights that Lyra’s care team are able to glean through Welkin’s platform, as well as the ability to centralize and streamline this information and their workflows, enables personalized, effective, and quick care. It also ensures no client ever falls through the cracks.
Medgadget: What challenges in facilitating employee behavioral health still exist today?
Hensel: Ridding the stigma often associated with behavioral health needs in the workplace—which often prevents people from seeking help—is a challenge. It’s about changing the broader mindset in our culture as it relates to behavioral health. It’s important that people feel safe enough to ask for help, and when they do, that they have guidance and access to effective help. Innovative organizations like Lyra, and the companies they work with who take an active role in the well-being of their employees and their loved ones, are paving the way for a healthier, more effective workforce. One that talks openly about mental health and gives employers and their employees the support they need to achieve their health goals, stay well, and thrive at work and at home.
Links: Welkin Health and Lyra Health…