Press release

Alluceo Expands Partnership With Sterling Health Care

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Alluceo, the leading digital care platform integrating mental health into primary care, today announced an expanded partnership with Sterling Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center dedicated to serving health-disadvantaged populations across rural Kentucky. The partnership includes the integration of Alluceo’s proprietary platform to enhance mental health care delivery as well as the prevention and management of chronic conditions for thousands of underserved patients.

One in five Americans are diagnosed with a mental health condition, but less than half of that population actually receive treatment and many more remain undiagnosed.1 A nationwide shortage of mental health professionals, significant costs, and broad stigma are consistent barriers that have led to a national mental health crisis affecting 45 million Americans2 and costing more than $200 billion.3

For Appalachian residents, who have disproportionately higher rates of mental health conditions, chronic disease, opioid use, and poverty, the lack of access to adequate care contributes to a cycle of health issues. Primary care providers across the area who take on mental health cases are overwhelmed and under-equipped to treat patients.

Alluceo’s approach transforms the culture of care with evidence-based tools and services that drive behavior change and enable mental health care in the primary care setting. Based on 20 years of best-in-class science, Alluceo’s team-based model equips providers with risk and complexity assessment tools, proven training models, and personalized treatment plans that connect primary care providers and mental health experts with patients and their families.

“Mental health is a critical component of overall wellness but an increasing number of Americans cannot access or afford the care they need,” said Bill Corsten, CEO of Alluceo. “Our platform solves this systemic issue by establishing mental health as a routine part of everyday care so providers don’t have to refer patients into a higher cost, overburdened system. We’re pleased to partner with Sterling Health Care to roll out a fundamentally better approach that prioritizes both mental and physical health.”

Sterling Health Care adopted Alluceo’s operational model in 2017 and has since successfully increased depression screening and diabetes control measures to levels higher than the state average, despite having relatively few mental health experts and resources. Now, Sterling Health Care will fully integrate Alluceo’s digital platform into their system to better support patients and providers with risk prediction tools and automated assessments, notifications and follow ups.

“Improved health comes from understanding how physical health, mental health, and social determinants of health intersect and affect one another, and then addressing these issues with innovative methods of care,” said Alex Conrad, CEO and Executive Director of Sterling Health Care. “Adopting Alluceo’s team-based model has allowed us to deliver better whole-health care through a connected network of support that meets the diverse needs of each individual, and helps us better serve our community.”

“Built from decades of operational excellence and clinical results, the platform is proven to deliver improved outcomes at lower cost,” said Nickolas Mark, Managing Director and Partner from Intermountain Ventures, which seeded Alluceo in 2019. “We’re eager to see the benefits that this partnership will bring to the region, and we hope that this collaboration will set the stage for national adoption of the Alluceo platform.”

More than 1,300 clinicians and 90 clinics have been trained in the mental health integration methodology underlying Alluceo’s technology. Alluceo continues to transform health care delivery across the country and will launch new programs in Salt Lake City, Utah this year.

1Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. (2016). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. SMA 16-4984, NSDUH Series H-51). Retrieved from http://www.samhsa.gov/data/

2Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP19-5068, NSDUH Series H-54). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/

3Mrazek, D. A., Hornberger, J. C., Altar, C. A., & Degtiar, I. (2014). A review of the clinical, economic, and societal burden of treatment‐resistant depression: 1996‐2013. Psychiatric Services, 65( 8), 977– 987. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201300059

About Alluceo

Alluceo is a digital, team-based care platform integrating patients’ mental and physical health into routine primary care. Born out of 20 years of best-in-class science and operational excellence, Alluceo partners with health systems and health plans to implement a holistic, evidence-based approach for managing chronic conditions. Based on a proven framework published in ​JAMA, Alluceo’s proprietary approach connects patients and their families with a personalized team of skilled caregivers, uses AI and machine learning to assess a patient’s risk and complexity, and designs a personalized care plan to optimize health outcomes. Backed by Intermountain Ventures, Alluceo is leading the way to wellness by enabling whole-health care with patient-centered care teams, improved clinical outcomes, and reduced costs. Learn more at www.alluceo.com

About Sterling Health Care

Sterling Health Solutions is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), headquartered in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Sterling Health currently operates five facilities in three cities, and offers services which include Primary Care, Pediatrics, Women’s Care, General Dentistry, Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse, and School Health. The center’s service area includes Bath, Clark, Menifee, Montgomery, and Nicholas Counties. Sterling Health’s mission is to improve the lives of the people in the communities it serves through improved health regardless of the ability to pay for the services. Learn more at www.sterlinghealthky.org