Albany Internal Medicine Launches Virtual Behavioral Health Initiative With Mindoula

Published in Press Releases, June 15, 2020

Innovative Georgia medical practice providing 24/7 behavioral health support to all patients
Albany, GA (June 10th, 2020) - Albany Internal Medicine, a Privia Medical Group–Georgia practice with a record of innovation and excellence in patient care, has partnered with Mindoula to launch the Collaborative Care Program and make behavioral health support available 24/7 to their patients. By integrating behavioral health into the primary care setting, the Collaborative Care Program delivers a virtual overlay of the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) developed by the University of Washington, which has been proven to double the effectiveness of depression care, improve physical function, and reduce health care costs.

“As primary care physicians we know the importance of mental health in the quality of life of our patients. Mental Illness also can make managing the physical illnesses of patients all the more challenging. The coronavirus pandemic has made the issue of mental illness even more prevalent and more serious,” said Dr. Joe Stubbs, Albany Internal Medicine President. “In our effort to provide high quality and comprehensive health care to the people of SW Georgia, we are excited to establish this collaborative with Mindoula as an effective way of better addressing our patients' mental health issues and better managing their overall health.”

This comprehensive program includes primary care providers, behavioral health care managers and consultant psychiatrists and will be offered to all eligible patients. Care integration is the basis of Mindoula’s market-validated model in which a patient is assessed in their current care environment, improving the chances for successful evaluation and treatment. Albany Internal Medicine’s primary care providers will be supported by Mindoula’s board-certified, Georgia state-licensed consultant psychiatrists and personalized teams of behavioral health care managers, utilizing Mindoula’s HIPAA-compliant Mindoula member registry (mMR), the Mindoula Messenger engagement app, secure two-way video, phone, and encrypted email.

“We are excited about rolling out the Collaborative Care Program to Albany Internal Medicine and their patients as we expand our partnership with Privia into the state of Georgia”, said Mindoula’s VP of Partnerships and Collaborative Care, Clare McNutt. “Together we ensure that the behavioral health needs of all patients, regardless of geography and access to transportation, are addressed around the clock by delivering personalized, synchronous, 24-hour support and brief therapeutic interventions proven to help patients successfully address mind, body, and life challenges such as depression and anxiety, which are often exacerbated by the daily challenges associated with COVID-19.”

Marcia Lee, a Nurse Care Manager, adds, “This partnership will have a significant impact on the thousands of patients we serve across Southwest Georgia. Together with Mindoula, we have been addressing the behavioral health crisis facing many local communities. The Collaborative Care Model, supports our ongoing efforts to bring much-needed assistance to patients, in new and unique ways.”

About Albany Internal Medicine
Albany Internal Medicine specializes in internal medicine, geriatric medicine, and family medicine. We are located in northwest Albany, making our practice closer and more accessible to all our patients of Southwest Georgia.

About Privia Health
Privia Health™ is a national physician organization that transforms the healthcare delivery experience for physicians and consumers. Utilizing a platform of talent, tools and highly enabling technology, Privia has a proven track record of developing and elevating physician groups to top tier performance. Their approach of meeting providers where they are on the value continuum and partnering with health plans, health systems, and employers to better align reimbursements to quality, outcomes and performance has proven to be successful and replicable across multiple geographies. This platform of top industry talent, physician leadership development, scalable systems and proprietary technology reduces unnecessary healthcare costs, achieves better outcomes, and improves the health of patients and wellbeing of providers. For more information: www.priviahealth.com @PriviaHealth

About Mindoula
Mindoula is a next generation population health management company that scales the human connection through technology in addressing mind, body, and life challenges. A national leader in the delivery of the Collaborative Care Model as a virtual overlay to provider practices, Mindoula identifies, engages, and serves populations with behavioral health and medical challenges across the continuum of care. Mindoula’s adaptive data science approach, multi-platform technology stack, and virtual plus in-person care extension teams enable its enterprise partners to achieve improved outcomes and significantly reduced costs by integrating behavioral, medical, and social determinants of health. Headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, Mindoula is currently operating in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Louisiana, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Mississippi, with continued national expansion plans to meet the growing need for integrated whole person care. For more information: www.mindoula.com