Humana
Inc. (NYSE:HUM), one of the country's leading health and well-being
companies, and Quartet, a mission driven technology company, today
announced that they will work together to advance the integration of
mental and physical health care for New Orleans residents – part of
Humana's Bold Goal initiative to improve the health of their member
communities by 20 percent by 2020.
Quartet teams up with insurers and physicians to help their patients in
need of mental health care. The company's platform allows primary care
physicians to initiate their patients into a proven collaborative
behavioral program.
Resources available through the Quartet platform include a highly
curated group of local behavioral health providers, live psychiatry
consults for providers, data driven insights through adaptive learning
algorithms, and concierge support for patients.
Through this new arrangement, Humana expects to improve access to care
for its Greater New Orleans Medicare Advantage members living with
anxiety, depression and addiction, which are most often connected to
other physical health conditions. An initial launch of the Quartet
platform in March is expected to serve Humana Medicare Advantage members.
"Although the connection between physical and mental health is well
understood among physicians, the resources haven't been there for
primary care physicians to appropriately screen and connect patients to
care," said Dr. Shelly Gupta, Humana Gulf States Medicare Medical
Director.
"Humana has been working to improve priority health issues in
communities across the Southeast, each with its own unique barriers to
care," said Dr. Gupta, who also serves as co-chair of the Humana New
Orleans Health Advisory Board. "We are excited to work with Quartet on
mental health integration in one of our most important Bold Goal
communities."
Humana has launched its Bold Goal community health program in both New
Orleans and Baton Rouge, and access to mental health care has been
identified in both Louisiana markets as one of the top barriers to
improved health care.
An estimated $48.3 billion could be cut from the total cost of health
care in the United States each year by effectively integrating physical
and mental health services, according to a 2014 study by leading
actuarial firm, Milliman Inc.
Quartet provides a scalable, evidence-based solution to integrate
physical and mental health care that reduces costs and improves health
outcomes.
"Quartet is dedicated to improving access and integration of mental
health services. The system has been siloed for too long," said Arun
Gupta, founder and CEO of Quartet. "We are excited to work with Humana,
a leader in care for aging populations that deeply understands the
impact poorly treated mental health has on overall health, especially
among seniors."
Humana is one of Louisiana's leading Medicare health benefits companies
with more than 225,000 Medicare members statewide.
Louisiana scores lowest in the nation for overall population health
given a high incidence of chronic physical conditions and concomitant
mental health concerns, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.1
People living with chronic physical health conditions are at a higher
risk of depression. Conversely, those with depression have a higher risk
of developing chronic physical conditions that can lead to worse health
outcomes if not treated.2
"In New Orleans there is so much need, yet a scarcity of resources.
Integrated, tech-enabled approaches that support primary care and
provide access to mental health in the primary care setting may be the
only way we can get patients the care they need," said Patrick J.
Kennedy, former Rhode Island congressman who championed the Mental
Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and now sits on the Board
of Quartet.
In April 2016, Quartet raised $40 million in its Series B from GV
(formerly Google Ventures), with participation from existing investors
Oak HC/FT, F-Prime Capital Partners, and Polaris Partners. Quartet is
using the investment to further build its team of engineers, data
scientists, and clinicians, and expand into at least five new markets in
2017.
Quartet is a mission driven technology company transforming the way
mental healthcare is delivered. We partner with insurers and physicians
to make mental healthcare more accessible and integrated into primary
care. Our platform relies on advanced analytics, proven treatment
programs, and easy-to-use technology to improve outcomes and total cost
of care. We are a team of engineers, data scientists, and clinicians
finding solutions for a broken healthcare system. For more information,
visit www.quartethealth.com.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and
well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their
best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The
company's strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and
clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change,
proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people we
serve across the country.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the
Investor Relations page of the company's web site at www.humana.com,
including copies of:
Annual reports to stockholders
Securities and Exchange Commission filings
Most recent investor conference presentations
Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls
