New Tech Partnership Breaks Down Barriers to Mental Healthcare Using A.I.

Leading provider of behavioral health, Geode, partners with healthcare technology company, Nirvana, using AI to simplify access for mental health patients.

OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES, April 16, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In a mental health crisis, a patient getting easy access to care could mean the difference between life and death. But wading through time-consuming insurance authorizations, confusing intake processes, and delays in scheduling, is a significant barrier for any patient. For many patients battling depression or anxiety, it’s insurmountable.

A recent study on access to mental healthcare shows just a third of adults with a mental or behavioral health condition receive specialized treatment in the US, even with insurance. The barriers are availability, access, and transparency.

It’s a problem Geode and Nirvana are working together to solve.

“Geode Health and Nirvana share a vision of making mental health services more affordable and transparent. This partnership reflects our commitment to addressing the challenges in mental health billing and ensuring a positive experience for both providers and patients," says Dr. Ravi Shah M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Geode

Those who do manage to navigate the system to access care are often burdened with unexpectedly high medical bills after the fact, due to inaccurate estimates for care, surprise “out of network” price hikes, or no estimates at all. A recent study found that two-thirds of American families view unexpected medical bills as a top source of financial stress.

Nirvana’s adaptive AI solution empowers Geode providers to eliminate that stress with up-front, clear cost estimates for every patient seeking care. That takes away the guesswork and fear of unaffordable bills that often act as barriers to care. To date, Nirvana’s technology has enabled Geode to check eligibility and provide cost estimates for more than 100,000 visits instantly and upfront. The partnership has identified and corrected more than 10,000 instances in which the patient was not found enrolled in the plan for which they had provided information. Geode was then able to proactively reach out and work with those patients on a solution to ensure they didn’t receive an unnecessary out-of-network bill. Utilizing Nirvana's solution furthers Geode’s commitment to using technology to enhance real access to mental health treatment.

“We’re truly harnessing the power of technology to make something really complicated, much simpler and faster,” says Kelvin Chan, President and Chief Product Officer of Nirvana. “Our specific AI model is designed to reduce surprises and errors, so you get accurate estimates of your bill right up front.”

This partnership accelerates the insurance verification process: instantaneous checks powered by AI replace long phone calls to insurers, enabling patients to schedule appointments in as little as 24 hours. The technology has been proven to be more accurate than human billers, with fewer surprises for patients.

Nirvana and Geode recognize that removing these barriers to care is essential for improving accessibility in mental health treatment. Geode advocates for patients to maximize their mental health benefits, and Nirvana’s technology ensures that patients can make well-informed financial decisions, without getting lost in a complicated system.

More about Nirvana’s AI Solutions:
After two years of iteration and model retraining, Nirvana has developed AI and machine learning billing solutions that surpass the accuracy of human billers. The specificity of Nirvana's model is the key to its success. Nirvana utilizes a unique human-in-the-loop ML process to ensure their AI model is optimally constructed to detect sources of denial risks, errors in copayments, coinsurance, and other information that cause downstream out of network bills. Precision is Nirvana's guiding principle, and every product they deliver raises the standard for accurate and reliable information in mental health billing.

About Geode Health:
Geode Health provides the best of mental health care in one place. Their diverse group of providers allows patients to get the care they need, whether it is psychiatry, therapy, or advanced treatments. To ensure quality care is accessible, Geode offers same-week appointments, both virtually and in-person, and are in-network with most major insurance plans. Geode currently operates in Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Contacts:
Margo Sneeringer
margo@meetnirvana.com
Nirvana Marketing & Media Contact
Phone: (206) 915-0350

stephen.mahnken@geodehealth.com
Stephen Mahnken, Vice President, Marketing and Partnerships
Geode Health
+1 253-405-7457