COVID-19 has caused an upsurge in the number of people suffering from mental health issues, with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions revealing that the risk for depression among U.S. workers has risen 102% since February. Due to the current limited mental healthcare resources, many people have been looking for suitable mental health resources online.
So it’s fair to say the COVID-19 has been a catalyst in revolutionizing digital health, accelerating digital transformation, and improving regulations. Remote monitoring solutions and digital therapeutics are emerging as the new normal for healthcare providers and improving the quality of patient care.
The big question for healthcare organizations, health plans, and businesses is, how can they use this opportunity to drive ROI?
Depression is already the number one cause of disability worldwide, accounting for up to 400 million lost workdays annually, with mental health and substance abuse alone costing US businesses $80-$100 billion each year.
A report by Deloitte ‘Mental Health & Employers — Refreshing the case for investment’, published in January 2020, suggests that mental healthcare will cost the global economy approximately $16.3 trillion in economic losses by 2030.
This figure, if true, will also drive up the cost for employers and health insurance companies, because people suffering from mental health issues already submit between two and four times as many medical claims than other claimants. This has a knock-on effect on the amount of money companies spend on their employees’ mental health issues, which in recent years have seen annual costs rising twice as fast as all other medical expenses.
Mental health should not be neglected, nor should it be considered a luxury because it is proven that if left untreated, the cost to governments, employers, and insurance companies is billions of dollars in medical claims.
Fortunately, organizations are changing their attitude towards mental health benefits, and the amount of money that employers spend on their employees’ mental health is rising rapidly, year on year.
However, Thrive Global’s report ‘Thriving in the new normal’ found that nearly 90% of employees surveyed felt that employers needed to be doing more. When it came to addressing the concerns and challenges surrounding COVID-19, three key themes emerged; stress management and resilience, managing the ‘work-from-home’ environment and maintaining productivity and performance.
Businesses will face challenges in their pursuit to create cultures of wellbeing. But it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for business leaders to intensify their focus on their people, retain talent, and maximize productivity, not only so they can prosper and thrive, but also to differentiate their employer brand.
As the world adjusts to the new normal, digital technology and community partnerships will play a powerful role.
Digital therapeutics are beneficial interventions that can mirror or improve existing face-to-face therapies to help prevent, manage, or treat medical conditions. They are driven by artificial intelligence and high-quality apps and programs, are evidence-based, clinically validated, and adhere to strict regulations. As part of that, Feel Therapeutics offers programs that aim to develop digital biomarkers and therapeutics to bring objective, passive, and continuous measurement and data to reinvent the way we diagnose, manage, and care for mental health.
Technology has evolved to the extent that it is now possible to continuously monitor, collate, and analyze a person’s emotional state, as shown by our recent study. This is revolutionary for the mental health sector because:
The use of both digital therapeutics and remote monitoring is gaining and will continue to grow traction in the mental healthcare sector.
Digital health solutions that offer real-time mental health data and remote patient monitoring can help healthcare providers ‘scale up’ access to and availability of mental healthcare.
The result is happier and healthier people.
Ahead of World Mental Health Day, we have partnered with Valencell and are running a 60-minute webinar ‘Driving ROI with mental health digital therapeutics in the COVID-19 era’.
On Tuesday, October 6th, 1 pm EST, join our team of experts; Kim Warner (VP of Business Development, Sentio Solutions), George Eleftheriou (CEO and Co-Founder, Sentio Solutions), Ryan Kraudel (Vice President of Marketing, Valencell), and Richard Popiel (Senior Advisor, Sentio Solutions; Former EVP & Corporate CMO Cambia, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield)
The webinar will discuss how healthcare organizations, stakeholders, health plans, and employers can use this opportunity to reshape and enhance their care delivery systems, while radically improving both costs and effectiveness.
You will learn:
If you are interested, click here to reserve your space on this free webinar.
