The Chandler, Ariz.-based youth mental health provider is expanding into integrated care and treating more acute conditions, including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, eating disorders, substance use disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Sharnell Myles, PsyD, chief clinical officer at Embark, told Becker’s that the company has a solid foundation in approaching mental healthcare from a holistic perspective. Embark has developed a network of providers to help care for patients with medical and behavioral health needs, but now was the right time to develop a more comprehensive approach, she said.
“Many of our families come to us, not only with a primary mental health diagnosis but also with a diagnosis of diabetes, or a need for occupational support, or other medical diagnoses,” Dr. Myles said. “What we found is families sometimes struggle to figure out what to put first.”
Embark operates more than 20 locations and offers intensive and virtual outpatient, partial hospitalization and residential treatment for children and young adults.
Scott Filion, Embark’s CEO, told Becker’s that some facilities are ready to go with integrated care, but the expansion won’t roll out at every facility right away.
“Like anything you do in healthcare, there’s a proof-of-concept phase,” Mr. Filion said. “You really want to nail down the approach. You want to make sure your staff is trained. You want to make sure you have everything that’s required for the patients in terms of the medical support and partnerships required.”
The company is also prioritizing expanding the types of mental health conditions it can treat.
Dr. Myles said Embark is seeing more families in need of support with autism spectrum disorder, and the company is moving to add more specialized treatment. Embark is also adding specialized programs to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders, she said.
“We have enough data that demonstrates to us that there is a continued need for families to receive support around individual diagnoses, or co-occurring disorders,” she said.
Embark is also expanding into athlete-specific mental health programs and leaning into AI, virtual reality and biofeedback treatment options, while also addressing the effects of technology on children’s mental health.
As youth sports grow more competitive, Embark sees an opportunity to support young athletes, Mr. Filion said.
“That’s changed the model to make sports part of the anxiety, instead of part of the relief. You see the same thing when we talk about tech. It continues to scale in a direction that isn’t healthy for youth. Those are two areas where we’re trying to get in front of what we think is a crisis scaling at rapid proportion,” he said.