Ontrak Partners with Veterans Health Administration to Transform Suicide Prevention Care in the U.S.
Ontrak, Inc (NASDAQ: OTRK) (“Ontrak” or the “Company”), a leading AI-powered and telehealth-enabled, virtualized healthcare company, today announced a cooperative research and development agreement with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to conduct a 3-year research study on the effect of intensive care coaching in addition to the standard of care for Veterans at high risk of suicide-related behaviors after psychiatric hospital.
Suicidal ideation has been elevated since the pandemic and the CDC reported on August 14 that a survey of U.S. adults in June 2020 indicated that 11% had seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days, which was twice as high as in the previous 12 month period.
The study will leverage AI developed by Dr. Ronald Kessler of the Harvard Medical School, as well as the core analytics of the Ontrak platform. Dr. Kessler is the McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and a principal in the STARRS Longitudinal Study of suicide prevention among US Army soldiers. “We are excited to have Ontrak helping us evaluate the effects of an intensive intervention to prevent suicidal behaviors among Veterans at very high risk,” stated Dr. Kessler.
Dr. Judy Feld, Medical Director of Ontrak, stated, “Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. with rates steadily increasing over the past decade and worsening during the Covid-19 pandemic. We know that individuals with behavioral health conditions such as depression, substance use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder are at higher risk for suicidal ideation or attempt. Importantly, the rate of suicide among our country’s military Vets is double that of non-Veterans. As a pioneer in the development of evidence-based interventions for engaging individuals in care for anxiety, depression and substance use disorders, Ontrak is honored to partner with the VHA healthcare system and collaborators from Harvard Medical School and Brown University to advance the medical community’s understanding of the most impactful case management for Veterans at high risk of suicide after inpatient hospitalization.”
Addressing Veteran suicide is a top VHA priority and Ontrak is proud to apply their AI and virtual care coaching model in a trial of 850 patients at 6 VHA hospitals selected from a total of 98 in the country. This study has the potential to not only reduce suicide risk, but also to produce secondary reductions in risk through interventions that address co-occurring medical conditions.
About Ontrak, Inc.
Ontrak, Inc. (f/k/a Catasys, Inc.) is a leading AI and telehealth enabled, virtualized healthcare company, whose mission is to help improve the health and save the lives of as many people as possible. The company’s PRE™ (Predict-Recommend-Engage) platform predicts people whose chronic disease will improve with behavior change, recommends effective care pathways that people are willing to follow, and engages people who are not getting the care they need. By combining predictive analytics with human engagement, Ontrak delivers improved member health and validated outcomes and savings to healthcare payers.
The company’s integrated, technology-enabled Ontrak™ programs, a critical component of the PRE platform, are designed to provide healthcare solutions to members with behavioral conditions that cause or exacerbate chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, COPD, and congestive heart failure, which result in high medical costs.
Ontrak has a unique ability to engage these members, who do not otherwise seek behavioral healthcare, leveraging proprietary enrollment capabilities built on deep insights into the drivers of care avoidance.
Ontrak integrates evidence-based psychosocial and medical interventions delivered either in-person or via telehealth, along with care coaching and in-market Community Care Coordinators who address the social and environmental determinants of health, including loneliness. The company’s programs improve member health and deliver validated cost savings to healthcare payers of more than 50 percent for enrolled members. Ontrak solutions are available to members of leading national and regional health plans in 30 states and in Washington, D.C.
