Lyra Health Looking to Change the Future on Treating Mental Health
Lately, America and many other countries have made a huge push, in a positive direction, for raising mental health awareness. Lyra Health has been one of those companies. While we are currently raising a tremendous amount of money and breaking down barriers and stigmas involving mental health issues, where does that money go exactly? Another question is: Where do all of these people with mental illness issues go? Where does one even begin to look for help?
Well we are not the only ones wondering about these questions. Lyra Health has announced they will be changing the way mental health issues and substance issues are handled. Many people have been asking, what is Lyra Health and what do they plan on doing? Earlier this year, David Ebersman, former CFO of Facebook and Genentech, launched Lyra Health, when he also realized that after raising awareness for mental health, there was not clear direction on what to do after that. Lyra Health is in the process of building a data search engine platform to help with identifying people with a high risk of mental health illnesses or substance abuse. Along with identifying people that are at risk, Lyra Health will go a step further and make sure these people are receiving the proper treatment.
In addition to launching this database, Lyra Health will also hire care managers. These care managers will help people understand their healthcare plans and treatment options that are available to them. The care managers will also check up on patients and make sure the treatment plan they have chosen actually works for them, if the plan does not work, the care managers jump into action to find the right one for their patients. David Ebersman explains, “Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are an enormous problem, and as a healthcare system we’re really underinvested in bringing the right tools to these people.”
An example of how this database will work is simple. A patient that has just undergone open heart surgery has a high risk for developing depression. Lyra Health will notify the patient’s doctor and the doctor will be able to run some test or keep an eye on the situation. Most patients in this situation would not even think to correlate these two conditions, that is why it is so important that doctors take the initiative and address the issue as a common procedure, as to stay clear of the negative stigma that is associated with mental illnesses.
Although Lyra is in its early stages of development, they have secured $3.1 million in funding from Castlight Health to continue and develop this database. This is a great step in the right direction for us. Ebersman explains that at first, Lyra Health will primarily be sold to large health plans, but hopes to expand to additional healthcare organizations over time, to insure that everyone receives the treatment and care they deserve.