Quartet Health, a technology company improving the integration of behavioral and physical health care, and Steward Health Care Network, the second largest physician network in Massachusetts, have signed a definitive agreement to offer Quartet’s platform as a service to Steward providers and patients. This multi-year agreement expands the existing partnership between Steward and Quartet, which commenced in 2015.
Quartet estimates that 7-9 percent of the population in Massachusetts is treated for both a chronic medical condition and behavioral health condition in a given year. Care for these individuals is oftentimes highly disjointed. Further, an additional 20 percent of this population is either not diagnosed or not treated for their behavioral health conditions.
Quartet’s technology platform identifies individuals in need of behavioral health resources and enables primary care providers to set those individuals on effective treatment paths in tight collaboration with behavioral health professionals. To date, more than 70 percent of Steward providers who used the Quartet platform for the first time became repeat users. Under the expanded agreement, all Steward primary care providers will be able to use the Quartet platform and all Steward patients will be able to access a host of free tools and services including online self-care resources, effective peer support interventions, and telepsychiatry.
“Access to behavioral health resources is one of the most pressing challenges in primary care today,” says Dr. Steve Stein of Family Medical Associates, a practice within the Steward Health Care Network. “Quartet has shown their commitment to taking on that challenge through the use of technology and hard work. I have no doubt that Quartet will fill the void in getting patients the behavioral health care they need.”
Steward Health Care has established itself as a leader on the journey toward value-based care, emerging as one of the earliest and most successful Pioneer ACOs. Steward ranked best in performance among Massachusetts Pioneers and second best of all Pioneer ACOs in the nation in 2013. The continued partnership with Quartet signals the system’s commitment to creating a comprehensive, integrated model of care that improves outcomes for more than one million patients cared for annually by Steward providers.
“We’re seeing progressive organizations like Steward recognizing the role that behavioral health plays in our country’s overall population health equation,” says Quartet Health CEO, Arun Gupta. “This is a great example of a leading provider system and payer investing together to build the behavioral health care system that our communities need.”
“I’m encouraged by the feedback from our providers thus far, and excited to get more of them onto the Quartet platform,” says Dr. Sanjay Shetty, President, Steward Health Care Network. “Quartet’s mission of improving access to mental health services and making integrated health care a reality is one that will make a real impact on the lives of our patients.”
