Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read January 2023— Mount Laurel-based Array Behavioral Care’s latest fundraising round demonstrates increased demand and opportunities for mental health.
Earlier last week, the South Jersey virtual psychiatry and therapy practice raised $25 million in Series C funding, led by CVS Health, to drive business expansion within new and established markets. CVS Health is also the owner of Aetna Health Plans after a “transformative” 2018 acquisition.
Jason Tompkins, market president for New York and New Jersey at Aetna, told Invest: in an earlier conversation, “Mental health is an area that our healthcare system as a country has been challenged with even before the pandemic. The isolation and lockdown of the pandemic intensified the need for accessible mental health care.” He added, “Mental health is the fastest growing medical spend category year-over-year for us on a percentage basis. However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg because we have a real shortage of mental health providers, creating a challenge for access.”
Array provides virtual behavioral healthcare services to patients in a variety of settings, from hospitals to at home, with 90 million patients served across the U.S., according to the company website. Despite the impressive numbers, the company hopes to continue to grow, noting in a press release that over 150 million Americans live in federally designated mental health professional shortage areas, with only 27.7% of the population’s need for mental health professionals being met.
CVS Health Ventures’ Vijay Patel, managing partner and co-founder of the company’s corporate venture capital platform, noted, “Array’s long history in virtual behavioral care and its devotion to quality stand out…Our collaboration and investment can help enhance access to these services, which is particularly important with demand for mental health services increasing significantly in recent years.”
While the Array team was an early adopter of telepsychiatry services, with Geoffrey Boyce, CEO & co-founder highlighting the team’s growth since 1999, telehealth became the forefront of healthcare services to millions of patients throughout the last few years as a result of COVID-19. Hospital and healthcare providers across the country have described it as becoming a staple to a provider’s ability to reach more patients and at-risk populations, such as children. Behavioral and mental health needs have become increasingly prescient even as the country moves on from the pandemic.
Amy Mansue, president & CEO of Inspira Health, remarked in a separate conversation, “We also continue to see growth within our behavioral health programs. One real need that came out of COVID was enhanced behavioral health services, not only for children but for the entire population. We have, therefore, expanded those for both in-person and telehealth services. However, I would caution that the current demand for services, especially for children, continues to be a great challenge.”
While Array continues looking for ways to expand its services in both new and established markets, the company itself will find favorable tailwinds as telemedicine becomes increasingly established. The key obstacle for the country, according to the National Institute of Health, will center around reimbursement. In this regard, New Jersey has taken a proactive role. In 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed telemedicine reimbursement legislation that extends payment parity until the end of 2023.
In a sign of the optimism surrounding the sector’s growth, CVS Health was joined in its investment by Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Health Velocity Capital, Harbour Point Capital, HLM Venture Partners, OCA Ventures and OSF Healthcare.
Dr. David Fairchild, SVP & Chief Medical Officer of Retail Health for CVS Health, has joined Array’s board of directors as part of the deal. “Providing high-quality, whole-person care to consumers is essential to improving the health care system,” said Dr. Fairchild in his statement. “Working with Dr. Varrell, Geoffrey Boyce and the entire Array organization, we believe that we can help increase access to excellent, convenient behavioral health care services.”
For more information, visit:
https://arraybc.com/
https://www.cvshealth.com/
https://www.aetna.com/
https://www.inspirahealthnetwork.org/
https://www.nj.gov/
