Iris Telehealth Earns Joint Commission Behavioral Health Care Recertification

Iris Telehealth, a leading provider of telepsychiatry services for health systems and community health centers across the U.S., announced today that it has been recertified with the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Behavioral Health Care.

This accreditation reflects the company’s commitment to providing safe, high-quality care for individuals receiving mental health services. Having first earned accreditation in 2019, Iris Telehealth is the only telepsychiatry company to achieve recertification.

“For the past nine years, our goal has been to provide high-quality virtual behavioral health services to help healthcare organizations increase access to life-saving care and improve their patient outcomes,” said Dr. Tom Milam, chief medical officer for Iris Telehealth. “This achievement is not only a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, but also our commitment in maintaining the high standards that have been the company’s hallmark and helped propel our rapid growth.”

As a Joint Commission-accredited psychiatric medical group, Iris Telehealth holds their providers to the same patient care standards as their partner healthcare organizations, if not higher. These principles sit at the forefront of how Iris Telehealth operates their medical group, including their standards for provider selection, patient care, compliance, and regulatory oversight.

To achieve this designation, Iris Telehealth underwent an intensive review that addressed its compliance with rigorous Joint Commission performance standards related to its leadership, clinical services, the environment of care, and human resource management among others.

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with healthcare providers, measurement experts, and patients. Informed by scientific literature and expert consensus, the standards help healthcare organizations measure, assess, and improve performance. Organizations seeking Joint Commission accreditation undergo an onsite review every three years.

About Iris Telehealth

Iris Telehealth helps healthcare organizations consistently increase access to quality mental healthcare for their patients by providing the clinicians, staff support, and knowledge to build a sustainable telepsychiatry department. With clinical grounding and emphasis on human relationships, Iris Telehealth identifies best-fit providers for each unique organization and ensures long-term commitment to meeting their partner’s needs, allowing them to provide the highest quality care to their patients and community. For more information, please visit iristelehealth.com.

View the original release on PR Newswire.

Iris Telehealth Earns Spot on Annual Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies

Austin-based company ranks No. 22 among behavioral health companies appearing on the 2022 list.

Inc. magazine recently revealed that Iris Telehealth, a leading provider of telepsychiatry services for health systems and community health centers across the U.S., was included on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest growing private companies. The ranking reflects a three-year revenue growth of 109% and marks the company’s second appearance on the annual list, having made its debut at No. 397 in 2020.

“We’re honored to once again be recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s fastest growing companies,” said Andy Flanagan, CEO of Iris Telehealth. “Since our founding in 2013, our mission has been to expand high-quality virtual behavioral health services to those who need it most. This recognition is a testament to that mission and the dedication of our team in making it a reality.”

Iris Telehealth has grown exponentially over the last 18 months as healthcare organizations seek to provide timely, quality behavioral health care to their patients. The company’s combination of high-quality providers, best-in-class support, expertise in optimizing care models, and technology has enabled customers to reimagine how behavioral health services are provided across the continuum of care.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are featured in the September issue of Inc. magazine.

The companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 have not only been successful, but also demonstrated resilience amid supply chain woes, labor shortages, and the ongoing impact of Covid-19. Among the top 500 companies on the list, the average median three-year revenue growth rate soared to 2,144%. Together, those companies added more than 68,394 jobs over the past three years.

“The accomplishment of building one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., in light of recent economic roadblocks, cannot be overstated,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. “We’re thrilled to honor the companies that have established themselves through innovation, hard work, and rising to the challenges of today.”

About Iris Telehealth

Iris Telehealth helps healthcare organizations consistently increase access to quality mental healthcare for their patients by providing the clinicians, staff support, and knowledge to build a sustainable telepsychiatry department. With clinical grounding and emphasis on human relationships, Iris Telehealth identifies best-fit providers for each unique organization and ensures long-term commitment to meeting their partner’s needs, allowing them to provide the highest quality care to their patients and community. For more information, please visit iristelehealth.com.

View the original release on PR Newswire.

Iris Telehealth CEO, Andy Flanagan, Talks to Healthcare IT News about Telepsychiatry

Healthcare IT News is an authoritative source covering the people, policy, and technology driving next-generation healthcare in the U.S. and the world. Recently, they spoke with Iris Telehealth’s CEO, Andy Flanagan, to discuss how telepsychiatry addresses provider shortages, reaches patients in rural America, and boosts patient satisfaction.

In this piece, Andy addresses how telepsychiatry serves as an optimal approach to care for hospitals and health systems. “From what we’ve seen, the most successful strategy is an integrated model where the health system, psychiatrists, therapists, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), and other key stakeholders surround the patient in a coordinated fashion to deliver individualized, value-based care,” Andy said.

Andy believes that by enabling more streamlined behavioral health consults, providers can prevent patients from escalating to the ED – the costliest care setting for patients and providers.

Read the full conversation with Healthcare IT News.

Iris Telehealth Raises $40 Million in Series B Funding Round to Combat Behavioral Healthcare Crisis

Virtual mental health company to grow clinical operations, commercial, and technology teams to help health systems and community health centers deliver timely and appropriate care to patients in need.

Iris Telehealth (“Iris”), a leading provider of telepsychiatry services for health systems and community health centers across the U.S., today announced that it has raised $40 million in Series B funding, led by Concord Health Partners. With this funding, Iris will accelerate its plans to improve outcomes for patients with serious mental illness by further assisting their partner healthcare organizations in helping care for and triage patients across the continuum, matching the right next level of care with each patient.

Founded in 2013, Iris is dedicated to delivering quality, sustainable behavioral health care so organizations can better support the patients who need it most. Serving almost 200 hospitals and community health centers, Iris has grown exponentially over the last 18 months, as healthcare organizations seek to provide timely, quality care to their patients. Iris’s combination of high-quality providers, best-in-class support, expertise to optimize care models, and technology has enabled healthcare providers to reimagine how behavioral health services are provided across the continuum of care.

Concord Health Partners (“Concord”) invests in expansion stage healthcare companies with innovative technologies and services that lower costs, improve quality, and expand access to care. Concord has a strategic partnership with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and a broad base of strategic limited partners to support portfolio companies and accelerate growth.

“Iris has an impressive track record of partnering with health systems and other providers to enhance behavioral health services by facilitating access to the appropriate level of care,” said James Olsen, Founder and Managing Partner of Concord Health Partners. “We are excited to support Iris, expand its reach and further enhance its technology capabilities.”

Columbia Pacific Advisors was an initial Iris investor and is now expanding its commitment to further support the Company as it expands access to much-needed behavioral health care services.

“We have seen Iris grow for many years and believe it is just getting started,” said Stan Baty, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Columbia Pacific Advisors. “We look forward to helping the Company scale to support more healthcare organizations and patients in need of quality behavioral health care.”

“For the past nine years, Iris’s goal has been to provide high-quality virtual behavioral health services to help healthcare organizations increase access to life-saving care and improve patient outcomes,” said Andy Flanagan, CEO of Iris Telehealth. “This funding will help us quickly scale our services to support more healthcare organizations. We plan to leverage this funding to make a positive, long-term impact on mental health care in communities across the country.”

With behavioral health patients accounting for 56% of total health costs and 77% of U.S. counties facing a psychiatrist shortage, providing timely, quality care to patients with serious mental illness has never been more critical – or challenging. Through this capital, Iris plans to help address this challenge by investing in four main areas to accelerate the expansion of its behavioral health services:

  • Expanding the clinical operations team to meet growing customer demand and ensure long-term customer health.
  • Scaling the go-to-market strategy to deliver quality, sustainable behavioral health care to more enterprise health systems and community health centers.
  • Enhancing the product and technology capabilities to help health systems manage patients across the continuum, ensuring the right patient is receiving the right care at the right time.
  • Augmenting the team of clinical and corporate employees to meet the increasing needs of patients and partners while maintaining a culture that is supportive, connected, and rooted in the shared mission of helping organizations meet their goals through exceptional care.
About Iris Telehealth

Iris Telehealth helps healthcare organizations consistently increase access to quality mental healthcare for their patients by providing the clinicians, staff support, and knowledge to build a sustainable telepsychiatry department. With clinical grounding and emphasis on human relationships, Iris Telehealth identifies best-fit providers for each unique organization and ensures long-term commitment to meeting their partner’s needs, allowing them to provide the highest quality care to their patients and community.

About Concord Health Partners

Concord Health Partners (“Concord”) is a healthcare private equity firm that invests in growth-stage companies with innovative technologies and solutions that advance healthcare through lower costs, improved quality and expanded access to care. The Concord team is comprised of healthcare sector specialists with deep industry knowledge and a broad network of strategic relationships. For more information, please visit concordhp.com.

View the original release on PR Newswire.

How Swope Health and Iris Telehealth Delivered Accessible, High-Quality Care to the Community

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How Swope Health and Iris Telehealth Delivered Accessible, High-Quality Care to the Community

“Our Iris Telehealth provider is highly skilled and helped us improve access for our patients immediately. Incorporating teletherapy into what we already do at Swope Health has been an important piece of the puzzle that makes it all work.”
Karen Suddath
Deputy Director of Behavioral Health, Swope Health

 

Since August 2021, Iris Telehealth has provided high-quality behavioral health support to Swope Health’s patient population through teletherapy.

Background

Swope Health is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and a Community Behavioral Health Center (CCBHC) delivering comprehensive healthcare services to people living in the greater Kansas City area. They provide same-day telehealth services, transportation assistance, and mobile programs, meeting their community’s needs with high-quality care, counseling, and treatment. As champions of community health, they provide a team-based, integrated care approach that’s personalized to the unique needs of their population.

Challenges

Swope Health works to meet patient needs with immediate access to high-quality care. However, like many healthcare organizations across the country, facilitating this level of access was Swope’s number one challenge. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finding the right provider match for their organization was becoming increasingly difficult. As they were figuring out how to adapt to a new world, they knew they would need access to resources and additional help quickly.

However, Swope began facing new challenges with recruiting, and their old hiring strategies weren’t working anymore. They knew they needed a highly-skilled provider who would require little clinical oversight, have the correct licensure, and be comfortable with technology. However, their local provider pool was insufficient, and they couldn’t find someone in their area to help fill in the gaps for their organization. That’s where Iris Telehealth came in.

Solution

Iris Telehealth worked closely with the team at Swope to find the perfect provider who could integrate seamlessly into their organization. Fortunately, due to their team’s experience with digital health during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were well accustomed to working in a virtual environment. By making teletherapy available to their community, Swope was able to help their community get the care they needed.

Swope has even extended their reach into local homeless shelters, where they’ve set up iPads, allowing residents to speak with a therapist when needed. Swope’s innovative approach doesn’t stop there – they’re even considering investing in soundproof booths where patients can engage in their telepsychiatry and teletherapy appointments privately.

Results

Since partnering with Iris, Swope has seen show rates increase by 5% and has been able to substantially reduce their patient waiting lists. In addition to the enhanced convenience for patients, Swope has found the perfect provider match for their organization. This success is due to Iris’s rigorous approach to provider matching.

At Iris, all providers complete a thorough vetting and interview process that includes multiple video interviews, detailed reference checks, and work history verification. Because of this strategy, Swope could secure a highly-skilled provider for their organization. They noted that the provider quickly integrated into their organization and helped them meet their goal of improving access to care immediately.

Additionally, Swope Health was one of the first CCBHCs to utilize a prospective payment system rate (PPS) instead of fee-for-service, allowing them to spend more focused time connecting with patients. Since their CCBHC designation, they’ve become more data-driven, and access has been consistently at the top of their list. As a quality-focused organization, Iris has been able to help them meet their goals and increase access to compassionate and dedicated behavioral health providers.

Telehealth is another tool that adds to the impactful and incredible work Swope Health is doing for its community. To learn more about Swope Health, you can visit their website here.

If you’d like to learn more about how Iris can help you find the perfect provider match, contact us!

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