Behavioral health organizations are investing in AI, administrative support and population health this year.
Becker’s connected with three leaders from across the U.S. to learn what investments they are most excited about now.
Here’s what they had to say:
Editor’s Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What’s one innovation — whether in digital tools, care models, or payment strategies — that you’re especially excited about or investing in this year?
Crystal Collette. Senior Director, Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Centra Health (Lynchburg, Va.): One of the innovations I’m most enthusiastic about this year is the integration of AI to streamline administrative tasks in behavioral health. Tools that help reduce documentation time, automate routine workflows, and assist with clinical decision-making are making a real difference. By minimizing time spent on paperwork, these technologies allow providers to focus more fully on face-to-face care with patients, strengthening therapeutic relationships and improving outcomes. It’s an exciting step toward a more human-centered, efficient behavioral health system.
Brad McKinney, Senior Director, Behavioral Health Services at UW Health (Seattle): “We’re particularly excited about the work we’re doing at UW Health to enhance behavioral health services through improved integration and collaboration, most recently with a focus on patients who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant soon or were recently pregnant. This year, UW Health is embedding behavioral health therapists into obstetrics and gynecology clinics, building on the existing work to integrate behavioral health into primary care clinics, to reduce barriers to timely care. The organization is also deepening partnerships with local community health workers, leveraging their ability to help patients navigate complex systems to connect with reliable support resources. Additionally, UW Health is improving consultation pathways for inpatient and ambulatory providers to access psychiatrists with perinatal expertise.
John Schick, PhD. CEO, Psychiatric Alternatives and Wellness Center (San Francisco): At Psychiatric Alternatives we are excited to continue to invest heavily in our proprietary software development to help us provide world class admin support to our doctors, make it as easy as possible for patients to connect with their provider, and provide real time claims data to our payers. Having our own in-house proprietary software allows us to be agile, efficient and stakeholder friendly across all aspects of our platform.
