Traditionally a mental wellness company, Calm is entering the healthcare space through its new solution called Calm Health, which Announced Tuesday.
“Historically, Calm has focused on helping people with relaxation, teaching them meditation,” Rhett Woods, vice president of products for Calm Health, said in an interview. “The new solution focuses on the intersection between mental and physical health because we have realized that mental and physical health are totally intertwined.”
Based in San Francisco Calm, which in the past primarily served consumers, will bring Calm Health to self-insured payers, providers and employers. Those who use the product will begin by downloading the app or accessing it on the web and completing a mental health screening.
Based on the evaluation results, the solution will recommend a program through Calm Health, Woods said. Calm Health programs are “condition-specific,” meaning they are tailored to any mental health condition the user has. This includes audio and video content from authoritative clinical experts. The programs follow the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Therapy.
But in some cases, Calm Health may identify that the user needs support outside of their platform. In that situation, it will refer the user to an in-network provider, Woods said.
“In fact, it will reconnect you to your health plan’s network of providers and suggest that you see a primary care doctor or some other specialist,” he said.
Currently, the solution is intended for those who struggle with conditions such as anxiety or depression. However, the company will add programs in the future to provide mental health support for those struggling with certain physical conditions, including hypertension, obesity, heart disease and cancer, according to a press release.
Calm Health will be available early next year, Woods said. In the meantime, the company is working on commercializing the new solution by presenting it at events and reaching out to its current business partners. Although it has primarily been a direct-to-consumer company, it also has a program for employers called Calm Business. More than 3,000 organizations use Calm Business, including Lincoln and GoFundMe, according to their website.
Despite focusing on mental wellness in the past, Calm has been able to make this transition into healthcare through its recent acquisition of Ripple Health Group, according to Woods, who was one of Ripple’s co-founders.
“[Ripple’s] expertise and experience is all about healthcare,” Woods said. “So we’re very well versed in building technology and solutions for the healthcare industry and understanding the data requirements, the seriousness of compliance.”
Although Woods did not name any competitors, other digital mental health companies include headspace health Y spring health.
Photo: metamorworks, Getty Images
