SEATTLE, Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Accolade (NASDAQ: ACCD), a personalized health and
benefits solution for employers, health plans and their members,
announces a new solution that integrates mental and physical
healthcare for better employee health and reduced healthcare costs.
The new Mental Health Integrated Care solution is in partnership
with Ginger, the leader in on-demand mental healthcare.
This partnership between Accolade and Ginger aims to further
destigmatize the need to seek mental health support and treatment,
and manage their physical and mental health needs in a
comprehensive, integrated, easy-to-access way, with a single point
of entry, and support at every step. Offered to Accolade's
customers and more than 1.7 million members, the solution enables
Accolade to expand access to on-demand mental health coaching,
virtual therapy, and virtual psychiatry, and collaboratively
deliver those services alongside a member's Accolade care team.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is a growing emotional
and mental health crisis impacting the lives of individuals, their
families, and employers around the country. With this partnership,
Accolade will:
- Use its data and intelligence capabilities to identify members
at risk for mental health issues and proactively outreach to
them. Accolade's frontline care teams will conduct an assessment
and work with members to uncover their needs, destigmatize mental
healthcare, and guide them to the most appropriate mental health
provider, including on-demand virtual services from Ginger and the
employer's EAP.
- Team with Ginger team to coordinate care for the member using a
shared care plan, implementing a rapid escalation process between
Accolade and Ginger, discussing cases in joint case rounds and
exchanging data including the member's after-visit summaries from
Ginger. Accolade addresses physical health needs, including member
medication adherence and barriers to physical and mental health,
and collaborates with the member's primary care physician.
- Track clinical outcomes across all levels of risk – where most
mental health solutions only track utilization and access.
Accolade's Mental Health Integrated Care will provide pre- and
post-assessment results data and reporting data including specific
depression and anxiety assessment scores such as PHQ-9 and
GAD-7.
As one of the first adopters of this new solution, Temple Health
University System will look to Accolade's Mental Health Integrated
Care to make mental healthcare more convenient and efficient for
employees. "Temple has a diverse
employee base of healthcare professionals who are working
incredibly hard through difficult times and, in line with
high-performing health systems throughout the country, 2020 has
taken a toll on our teams. We understand the importance of driving
medical advances through clinical innovation – and we are quick to
recognize that Accolade is delivering an integrated mental and
physical health solution that can have significant impact on the
overall well-being of our people, and our business," said
John Lasky, Executive VP, Chief Human Resources Officer, at
Temple University Health System.
Employee and workforce health – physical, emotional, and mental
– is critical for business continuity and retention, but many
employers are ill-equipped to confront these
challenges, despite increased investments in employee
assistance programs and other solutions.
"This year has been extremely hard on so many of us, as COVID-19
continues to disrupt our way of life. As a result, our country's
emotional and mental health is suffering, exacerbating chronic
conditions and risking downstream health complications and costs,"
said Accolade Chief Medical Officer Shantanu Nundy, MD. "Accolade Mental Health
Integrated Care is a comprehensive solution for employers to manage
the combined effects of physical and mental health issues in their
populations and based on decades of research demonstrating positive
impact on health outcomes and cost-savings."
According to Ginger's 2020 Workforce Attitudes Toward Mental
Health Report, nearly 70% of U.S. workers believe that this is the
most stressful period of their careers, including major events like
the September 11th terror attacks,
the 2008 Great Recession and others. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
tumultuous socio-political climate and economic uncertainty, Ginger
has observed record-high demand for mental health support. In the
last week of August 2020, weekly
utilization rates were 148% higher for behavioral health coaching
and 280% higher for therapy and psychiatry when compared to
pre-COVID-19 averages.
"Physical and mental health conditions often go hand-in-hand,
and it's time that we start treating them that way," said
Justin Hunt, Medical Director and
Head of Psychiatry at Ginger. "Ginger's on-demand mental healthcare
system combined with Accolade's personalized approach to care
navigation are a significant step towards narrowing the gulf
between mental and physical health - resulting in cost-effective,
better health outcomes."
About Accolade
Accolade (NASDAQ: ACCD) provides
personalized health and benefits solutions designed to empower
every person to live their healthiest life. Using a blend of
cloud-based technologies, specialized support from Accolade Health
Assistants® and Clinicians, and integrated data and programs across
mobile, online and phone, Accolade navigates people through the
healthcare system with trust, empathy and ease. Employers offer
Accolade to employees and their families as the single place to
turn for all health, healthcare, and benefits questions or
concerns, increasing their engagement in benefits and connecting
them to high-quality providers and care. By empowering members to
make better decisions about their health, Accolade can support
members in lowering the cost and complexity of healthcare while
achieving consumer satisfaction ratings over 90 percent and an NPS
of 60. For more information, visit Accolade on Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn and at www.accolade.com.
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SOURCE Accolade