Mindful Care raises $7M to make mental healthcare accessible and affordable

The company offers MicroTherapy, a hybrid model of 20-minute therapy sessions

Many mental health providers don't accept insurance, which means Managed Medicaid and commercially insured patients have to wait between up to eight weeks to see a prescriber. Meanwhile, startups focus either on cash or high-paying commercial payers, making access to urgent and affordable mental healthcare out of reach for many patients. 

Dr. Tamir Aldad founded Mindful Care with the goal of solving that problem, which it does with its "same day/next" care mode, which involves triaging patients, assessing which services they need, and determining if an outpatient setting is appropriate for them so they can get care as quickly as possible.

The company also has a multi-disciplinary approach to care, including social workers, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychiatrists, and counselors, all of whom are committed to making sure the care is holistic and compressive.

"By most metrics, there is no other company that is as accessible as Mindful Care, including being a hybrid model, meaning virtual and in-person. We see patients ages 12 and up, we see all diagnoses at all levels of severity and acuity, and we accept nearly all managed and commercial plans," he said.

On Wednesday, the company announced a $7 million oversubscribed Series B funding round led by Sopris Capital, with participation by the University of Chicago, the Caruso Foundation, Venkon Group, and others. This brings its total funding to $11.1 million. 

Mindful Care offers a form of therapy called MicroTherapy, which is a hybrid model of 20-minute sessions that occur as frequently as a patient would like, along with MindFit Group Therapy, psychiatry, and a combination of psychiatry and therapy. In addition, Mindful Care provides Mental Health Urgent Care for immediate mental healthcare needs.

While Mindful Care doesn't prescribe controlled substances to its patients, it does offer access to GeneSight, a DNA service that determines how a patient's body will respond to potential medications, allowing patients to make informed decisions regarding prescriptions. The company does prescribes Buprenorphine through its addiction program called Mindful Recovery, which is currently in its pilot stage. 

Currently, Mindful Care has monthly average of over ten thousand patient visits, and has helped over 30,000 patients receive urgent mental health treatment. The company helps patients deal with issues such as anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, OCD, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. 

Since its founding in 2018, the company has shown an an 85% reduction in avoidable emergency room visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, which means the company has saved employers, Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers about $20 million since inception.

"Most patients are middle-aged, employed, and hardworking individuals that want care immediately and have grown frustrated with the poor access to care in our healthcare system," Aldad explained.

Now that it has this new money, Mindful Care plans to use it to expand its services into new regions, including the Midwest and Southeast; the company opened its first location in West Hempstead, New York, and has since opened seven more locations in the Greater NYC area, along with two in New Jersey, and two in Chicago. 

"We score each region by weighted metrics analyzing both the patient demand for services and the prevalence of mental illness, as well as the density of mental health professionals available to provide adequate care for our model to succeed," said Aldad. 

"Areas with high demand and a large population of highly qualified talent are attractive; therefore, we will be penetrating them first. We are committed to serving as many people as possible and will soon be nationwide."

It will also be used to launch new individual therapy and addiction treatment programs, as well as to further develop technology to improve clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.   

"Mindful Care is committed to strong patient engagement. Our team of engineers is developing various tools to ensure patients stay connected to their treatment plans, can access them easily, and have a frictionless experience ranging from scheduling to communication, to refills, to video conferencing, among other benefits," said Aldad. 

"Our goal is to have a meaningful impact on the mental health crisis. Building an economically sound business with a social impact seems paradoxical, but we are committed to changing that to help as many Americans as possible. Mindful Care is committed to being the most affordable and accessible mental health company in the US."