HOST: The following portion of 8 West is sponsored by Mentavi Health. Depression, anxiety, ADHD — they are common mental health challenges that could keep you from living a full life. And sometimes, access to care is a barrier. But you really don’t have to live near a specialist or wait months to take the first step to improve your mental health. That’s where Mentavi Health, our expert, comes in. Today, we are talking with their CEO, Keith Brophy, and Dr. Barry K. Herman, Mentavi’s chief medical officer. And so we’re glad you could join us today. We’ll start with you, Keith. Give us a little history on Mentavi Health and how you aim to offer access to care to everyone.

KEITH BROPHY: Mentavi was launched in 2018, so we’re about 8 years old now. And the company was created to meet patients where they’re at on their need for access to mental health stewardship, and to provide online diagnosis and treatment of mental health. And patients can meet us from the comfort and privacy of their own homes.

HOST: Yeah. Treatment for 18 and above, but you do assessments for people much younger than that.

KEITH BROPHY: We assess children 6 and above with our assessment approach. And then for those that wish to continue with our online treatment program, we offer that in 43 states, for those 18 and above.

HOST: Who are your patients?

KEITH BROPHY: Our patients are a wide range of demographics. Their primary concentration is adults age 18 to 45, slightly more female than male, but pretty representative of our nation. There’s barriers to access all across the nation, and a lot of pockets of the country where there just is no access to mental health care. So we try to meet those patients where they’re at.

HOST: Yeah, I know there is a window where students in particular are heading back to school. And so this could be a convenient solution.

KEITH BROPHY: But also there are people that live in rural areas. They don’t have a lot of access or options to meet with someone. There are so many obstacles, from geographic to busy lives to lack of professionals. Our chief medical officer, Dr. Barry Herman, is a real advocate. He’s for removing barriers to access, and has been key to this model we’ve built out.

HOST: Yeah, and let’s ask Dr. Herman — this has to be changing the landscape in a very big way.

DR. BARRY HERMAN: Telehealth has definitely helped close the gap in terms of the access problem that we’re facing in this country. It’s been said that up to 60% of people with a mental health condition are not getting the treatment that they need, and that is because there’s just a shortage of specialty care that’s available. And there are so many barriers, as you just mentioned, to getting access to both diagnosis and treatment. We have a health workforce shortage in this country — for example, 60% of counties don’t have a child psychiatrist. So telehealth is one of the technologies that’s helping to close the gap for people, for a variety of reasons, who just don’t have access to diagnosis and treatment. And really, it doesn’t have to be a mental health crisis for someone to reach out. It’s actually preferable that somebody takes that first step before it’s a crisis. Taking the first step to get an assessment and gain insight into what’s going on can be critical to mental health stewardship, and it can keep things from spiraling further.

HOST: It’s said by the CDC that one out of every five Americans has a mental health issue, and fewer than half are undergoing treatment. I’ll let you respond to that as well, Dr. Herman — there are many different reasons someone might want to reach out to Mentavi Health.

DR. BARRY HERMAN: Definitely — you do not have to be in a crisis in order to get help. Most people who access our diagnosis or treatment are folks who know that there’s something wrong. They may not be able to put their finger on it, but they’re just not functioning up to par in multiple domains of their life, whether it’s at home, in their relationships, at work, or at school. They just have a feeling that they’re not themselves. Those are the folks that we really think we can help, by providing a clear, comprehensive diagnosis, trying to identify what problems are going on, and offering real solutions — whether it be treatment or other ways in which they can seek help.

HOST: How would someone get started?

KEITH BROPHY / DR. HERMAN: The first step is an easy one. The patient can go to mentavi.com, sign up, and proceed to the assessment. Many of our patients are referred to us by primary care physicians — there’s thousands across the nation that refer patients to us. If they’re referred in, it works the same way; they just create the account and proceed on the journey.

HOST: Yeah, there’s a lot of information on this website. Great place to start, and a lot of different options through Mentavi Health.

DR. BARRY HERMAN: There’s a great wealth of information, and many ways a patient can go on the journey that fits their needs. It’s sometimes said that access is everything, because you have to be able to take that first step and find it where it meets you. But we would also say that access without quality is not the right journey to take. We’re very proud of our validated approach for ADHD and other conditions in our comprehensive assessment, and the quality commitment of our clinicians. So we offer our patients both that critical first step to start, and the trust behind it.

HOST: Well, Keith and Dr. Herman, thank you so much for your time and for joining us. We look forward to learning more about Mentavi. Thank you.

HOST: And the preceding portion of 8 West is sponsored by Mentavi Health. We’ll be right back.