Investors understand that virtual behavioral health services are not only entrenched, they are essential to addressing the country’s mental health crisis.that’s why CVS Health on Monday spent $25 million in Series C funding round of array behavioral care.
Existing investors in Array also participated in the round and provided additional capital. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Health Velocity Capital, Harbor Point Capital, HLM Venture Partners, OCA Ventures When OSFHealthcareThe New Jersey-based company has raised $24 million. Series B round Scheduled for 2021, no previous investment was disclosed.
The company’s history dates back to 2009, Array CEO Geoffrey Boyce said in an interview. That year, he founded a startup called InSight Telepsychiatry with Dr. James Varrell, the chief medical officer of his Array. The startup started as an extension of Dr. Varrell’s work in a brick-and-mortar psychiatry.
2019, Insight Merged In collaboration with a Chicago-based company called Regroup Telehealth, which offered a similar service. The combined company will be rebranded to He Array in 2021. Boyce said the name represents a set of services the company provides across lines of care.
Array serves as a virtualized outpatient mental health practice. The company is focused on creating an environment in which clinicians can thrive and deliver the best possible outcomes for their patients, Boyce declared.
“We worked hard to create a culture, systems and processes that clinicians could practice as a group of peers,” he said. “They are looking to use technology to deliver services and apply team-based care. We put them in a position where they can focus on high clinical care.”
Array’s services are within most major payers and networks. Etna, part of CVS Health. The company records every patient visit in an electronic medical record and sends billing to the health plan on the backend.
Array may also integrate clinicians into other provider groups, Boyce explained. In situations like this, hospitals and clinics could be her Array customers. When an Array clinician joins the medical staff of a hospital or clinic, she records visits and submits claims using her EHR for that provider.
Array clinicians saw more than 400,000 patients last year, Boyce said.
CVS made the decision to invest in Array because of the high demand for virtual psychiatric care, said Cara McNulty, president of behavioral health and mental wellbeing at CVS Health. When CVS was deciding how best to ensure members had access to quality mental health care, she chose Array as a trusted partner. Because the company was in the virtual mental health space long before it took off during the pandemic, she said.
McNulty acknowledged that no single company can solve the country’s mental health access problem. Many health care providers and health insurance plans will need to work together to scale up services if things are to improve. As such, Array isn’t the only mental health company CVS has invested in or plans to invest in. For example, CVS joined a suicide prevention startup. Oi TherapeuticsLast year it raised a $26 million funding round.
I have many virtual mental health companies CVS should be selected for the following investments: This also means that Array is competing with many different startups. But Boyce thinks Alley stands out for two reasons.
The first is that Alley is “very focused” on psychiatry. More than half of Array’s clinicians are psychiatrists, so the company can serve more acutely ill patients, Boyce said.
A second differentiator is Array’s ability to serve the entire continuum of care. Patients can connect with Array clinicians from a variety of settings, including emergency home, emergency room, inpatient room, and outpatient clinic.
“We strive to bridge the continuum of care to help individuals and our partners find solutions to manage their mental health issues. Instead of disappearing after
Photo: Nuthawut Somsuk, Getty Images
