At OSF HealthCare based in Peoria, Ill., digital therapeutics are connecting patients to behavioral health services beyond hospital walls — and driving results, with patients seeing more than 50% improvement in patient health surveys, or PHQ-9 scores.
The system uses the digital therapeutics platform SilverCloud, an internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy based tool to support patients experiencing mild to moderate stress, depression and anxiety, Dominique Dietz, director of virtual behavioral health, told Becker’s.
“OSF did this from a community health needs assessment, allowing free mental health access to individuals in the communities that we serve and creating a digital front door to care,” she said.
On average, patients logged in for eight-week sessions lasting 30 to 45 minutes. Patients saw about 45% improvement in general anxiety disorder assessments, or GAD-7 scores, and the system reported about a 94% satisfaction rate.
The accessibility and user-friendly design allow individuals to engage with care on their own time. It is available through a smartphone app or web browser.
“It has been really beneficial to leverage that for patients who maybe have a stigma tied to going into seeing someone for behavioral health services, if transportation is a barrier, work schedules are a barrier because it’s available 24/7,” Ms. Dietz said.
A literature review found internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy to be a cost-effective treatment and management approach for anxiety and depression. More than 18% of U.S. adults in 2025 reported experiencing depression or treatment for it and an estimated 31% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
Originally, the tool was targeted toward the systems integrated behavioral health therapists and primary care teams as a complement to integrated therapy. When it was launched in 2017, the biggest obstacle was buy-in and change management, especially as it came before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Dietz said hesitation stemmed from challenges around providing digital support for high-risk patients, such as those experiencing suicidal ideation, without direct clinical backing.
In response, the team worked with the legal compliance and risk team to launch the digital behavioral health support tool as an open sign-up model. Through that shift, leadership and providers began seeing the benefits of the digital behavioral health tool.
“It took a long time, and I think we just had to pivot and be open and mindful, to let the data speak for itself, to get that buy-in,” Ms. Dietz said.
The system also used the tool as a bridge to care during the pandemic. Patients facing six- to eight-week wait times could access support immediately.
Ms. Dietz said usage of the tool has slowed as more patients return to in-person services after the pandemic. Every two to three years, the system reevaluates its strategy to assess what has worked, what has not and future opportunities.
“We’re going to see and tackle more subspecialties within behavioral health, outside of that stress, depression and anxiety that we originally targeted a few years ago,” she said.
The system is currently working with its community medicine service line to pilot the tool for insomnia based on research findings.
