Blue Shield of California has invested in Brightline, a Palo Alto-based startup that aims to provide measurable results in the field of youth mental health. The company secured a $20 million round of venture capital funding. Jeff Semenchuk, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at Blue Shield explained the insurer's decision to support Brightline in an interview with Forbes.
Even though Brightline is a relatively young startup, its outcomes-based approach has enabled it to attract top-tier healthcare partners such as Blue Shield of California. That insurer was attracted to Brightline’s technology, says Jeff Semenchuk, senior vice president and chief innovation officer, because behavioral health is a particularly challenging and costly area. If issues like anxiety and depression are left unaddressed, they translate into much worse health conditions and outcomes further down the line. “It was really a wonderful thing to see this company, which we think is the first of its kind in this country that is focused solely on the moods of the youth and their behavioral, mental and emotional health,” says Semenchuk. Blue Shield of California is planning to offer Brightline to all of the customers in its self-insured market starting in 2021.
Read the full story here.