In January 2022, New Directions Behavioral Health, a provider of behavioral health solutions, acquired Tridiuum, a digital behavioral health company. Now the combined companies have re-launched as Lucet, a behavioral health optimization company for health plans.
The Overland Park, Kansas-based company has unveiled a new solution designed to help payers improve care access, quality and measurement for their members. By combining the expertise of New Directions and Tridiuum, Lucet said the new tech-enabled solution addresses the most critical behavioral health challenges payers face: ensuring their members receive quality care, quickly.
Noting that wait times for an initial visit can average more than three months, the company said that Lucet enables payers to connect members with the right care in less than five days on average, and as little as one day from first contact. Lucet said its ability to more effectively measure outcomes has shown that members who receive care through its solution average a 40 percent improvement in their Behavioral Health Index (BHI) score. With mental health being an important component of overall health, plan members who receive care through Lucet have sustained annual savings of more than $1,000 in outpatient settings, and more than $3,000 in inpatient settings, the company said.
“While behavioral health may traditionally be viewed as a nominal cost-driver for health plans, its ability to improve or detract from a person’s overall health and cost of care cannot be overstated. With the challenges in care access and quality that health plans face today, many are missing an important opportunity to better serve their members and manage costs,” said Shana Hoffman, president and CEO at Lucet, in a statement. “Effectively addressing mental health needs in today’s complex environment requires people and technology. You can’t just have one or the other, and we have decades of experience with both. What we’re launching today with Lucet is an innovative solution for this country’s most innovative payers.”
Lucet’s tech-enabled solution, called Navigate & Connect, combines a team of care navigators with a technology platform that offers real time risk assessment and a proprietary claims-based algorithm that provides care navigators with additional insight to ensure members are always connected with the appropriate provider. The company also provides a 24-hour crisis support line for instances where immediate crisis intervention is required.
Through integration with provider systems, including EHRs, practice management systems and other point solutions, care navigators can see providers’ availability and schedule appointments in real time. Lucet said its mission control dashboard provides real-time, granular insights into member demand, care quality and outcomes, and network supply and performance.
“With the deep expertise of its team and more than two decades of clinical research powering its solutions, the behavioral health insights that Lucet brings our business are unmatched,” said Chuck Divita, executive vice president, commercial markets, for GuideWell and Florida Blue, in a statement. “Lucet’s Navigate & Connect solution quickly drove material positive impact on our behavioral health offerings, and we expect that the value and support it delivers to our members will continue to expand over time.”
