A Money + Meaning Podcast with Andrew Barr of GreyMatter Capital, Charmain Jackman of InnoPsych, Kristine Santoro of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, Erin Sietstra of Hopelab, and Andy Riemer of SidePorch
Mental health issues affect about one in five Americans, but accessing appropriate services remains a challenge for many. Treatment rates among U.S. adults with mental illness reflect the disparities: 52% of white Americans are receiving services, while that number falls to 39% for Black Americans, 36% for Latino Americans, and 25% for Asian Americans.
These challenges layer atop issues including a fragmented mental health care ecosystem and a shortage of providers. But some health providers and investors see opportunities to scale innovative care and partnership solutions. A new episode of Money and Meaning features a SOCAP24 conversation with investors and mental health services professionals who share their thoughts and ideas on creating a more integrated and equitable system. The discussion features:
- Andrew Barr, GreyMatter Capital
- Charmain Jackman, InnoPsych
- Kristine Santoro, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services
- Erin Sietstra, Hopelab
- Moderator Andy Riemer, SidePorch
Riemer launched the conversation with an overview of the scope of the challenge and the potential social and economic effects. “When we are in a mental health crisis that will cost $1.3 trillion per year between now and 2040, how do we prioritize?” they asked. “When everything is urgent, how do we prioritize?”
Numerous barriers stand in the way of a more cohesive mental health system, from a lack of providers to issues with health insurance that limit access. Santoro said a lack of mental health parity is the biggest challenge she sees as a mental health provider at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. “We would all agree that one should be able to access mental health services as easily as they can get their broken leg fixed, but that’s not the case,” Santoro said. “It has a huge impact on the workforce shortage and on finances.”
Didi Hirsch is working to expand access by providing comprehensive mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention services, especially in communities where injustice and discrimination limit access. Santoro said partnerships are one strategy to bridge treatment gaps and improve outcomes. “Mental health care is not just an issue for insurance companies or for health,” she said. “It affects all of us, and it affects all kinds of systems.”
Through a partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department, some mental health crisis calls are diverted to Didi Health — a collaboration that has financial and social impact. “We’ve been able to de-escalate 85% of those calls,” Santoro said. “For every dollar spent on community mental health, it saves $12 in criminal justice costs. So we really need to be thinking more systemically about how we can be approaching this.”
Partnerships are part of the strategy at InnoPsych, which Jackman founded to advance inclusive mental health solutions. It has a focus on educating people of color about the importance of mental health and expanding the number of therapists of color. “My company focuses on people of color because we are highlighting people who can provide culturally affirming care,” she said.
Jackman said education is a key piece of InnoPsych’s work. “Families are hesitant to engage in mental health services because of medical mistrust,” she said. “When I think about innovative models, particularly in the realm of young people, we have to include families. We have to have partnerships. And we have to have community-based organizations as part of that curriculum as well.” While collaboration models are important, she said insurers also need to be part of shaping solutions.
At Hopelab, Sietstra is using impact investments and research to improve the mental health of youth, especially those from underserved backgrounds. She pointed to two options for addressing friction in the mental health care system. Collaborative care holds some promise. By training some health providers to go beyond their area of purview, they can help fill gaps in coverage. “We’re not expecting pediatricians to become therapists, but to have them have maybe networks of coaches or peers that they can tap into in the short term,” Sietstra said. “Providers are already stretched thin.” She said technology also shows promise as a way to help patients more easily connect with a wider range of providers who may be better culturally aligned. They can also tap into virtual groups for peer support.
But Sietstra highlighted the larger social and environmental issues contributing to the situation. “Even if all of that was fixed and moved smoothly, we wouldn’t be addressing the larger problem, the bigger barrier, which is that a lot of these mental health challenges are actually caused by social issues,” she said. “There are challenges with the system and challenges with the world, and it’s hard to disaggregate the two.”
That connection is gaining attention from impact investors and partners like Barr at Grey Matter, who see these innovations as opportunities to address mental health and the issues behind it. He said the specialized fund is inspired in part by his experience as a child who received treatment for OCD. “When I think about what’s broken with this system, I think about my own journey,” Barr said. “It’s still a journey. It’s not like fixing a broken leg. These are chronic conditions.”
His parents were able to pay out of pocket for his treatment, which he said altered the trajectory of his life, and he acknowledges that isn’t the case for many others. “The biggest barrier to change here is the way in which we pay for mental health care and what we choose to pay for and not pay for as a society, and what the business models around that are,” Barr said.
Finding and scaling innovative business models that provide effective and efficient patient care is especially challenging now due to the shortage of counselors and other mental health service providers. He sees promise in a value-based care model that uses technology to provide effective and efficient services to people who otherwise can’t get help now. “There is a big problem in a system that doesn’t necessarily incentivize results,” Barr said.
Scaling effective innovative services can help serve more patients and tackle larger, costly societal issues. “Addressing the needs of underserved people also addresses the current costs of ED visits, inpatient stays, and criminal justice,” he said. “That’s where the opportunity has been created. It’s incumbent on us to serve those populations.”
Listen to the episode for the full discussion:
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts.
Listen to more episodes of Money + Meaning here.
