Humana, Quartet team-up to improve mental health care in New Orleans

Humana Bold Goal

As part of Humana’s Bold Goal initiative to improve the health of their member communities by 20 percent by 2020, the company will work with Quartet to advance the integration of mental and physical health care for New Orleans residents.

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. Said program includes a curated group of local behavioral health providers, live psychiatry consults for providers, data driven insights through adaptive learning algorithms, and concierge support for patients.

Under the deal, Humana will 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,” Dr. Shelly Gupta, Humana Gulf States Medicare Medical Director, said in a statement. “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 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.

“Quartet is dedicated to improving access and integration of mental health services. The system has been siloed for too long,” Arun Gupta, founder and CEO of Quartet, said in a statement. “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.”

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.