Intermountain Healthcare Launches New Company, Expanding Access to Proven Mental Health Integration Approach

Intermountain announces formation and launch of Alluceo, a new independent company offering proven, team-based mental health integration services and technology

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA, March 2, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ -- – Intermountain Healthcare announces the formation and launch of Alluceo, a new independent company offering proven, team-based mental health integration services and technology.

Supporting mental health is a growing global priority and a critical component for overall health. More than 300 million people worldwide live with depression (World Health Organization), and in the United States alone an estimated 44.7 million adults—18.3 percent of the total population—suffer from a mental illness (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Alluceo, a new Intermountain Healthcare company, aims to normalize mental health services and simplify the process for connecting people with a team of skilled caregivers.

The company’s services and technology are based on a program called Mental Health Integration (MHI) built by Intermountain primary care clinicians and leaders. The MHI program prioritizes physical and mental health equally, integrating mental and behavioral health services as a routine part of primary medical care. The program also leverages a team-based care model designed to engage a patient’s full care team: the patient and their family, doctor, mental health providers, and care managers.

Alluceo’s digital platform makes the science of mental health integration accessible and powers team-based care protocols. The technology enables a patient’s full care team to remotely and seamlessly communicate together, assess risk and complexity, and deliver high quality connected care. Applying technology in this way opens new possibilities for mental and behavioral health care delivery as well as prevention and management of chronic conditions.

“Alluceo offers a collaborative solution to an ever-increasing healthcare challenge,” says Marc Harrison, MD, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Healthcare. “It’s platform and services are truly people-centered, designed and proven to effectively address the needs of all those impacted by mental health concerns, and at the same time reduce the financial burden to patients. I am excited to see the value and change Alluceo will bring to the disciplines of mental and behavioral health and primary care.”

Alluceo’s team-based approach stands out because it is backed by evidence, proven to reduce costs and improve care for patients. Reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Intermountain’s Mental Health Integration program—the framework for Alluceo—created tangible operational and clinical efficiencies:

• The team-based care model had higher rates of active depression screening—46.1 vs. 24.1 percent
• A lower rate of emergency room visits—a 23 percent reduction
• A lower rate of hospital admissions—a 10.6 percent reduction
• Lower cost of care to communities—a savings of 3.3 percent
• Better patient care through improved care management — primary care physician encounters reduced by 7 percent, with more patients receiving focused care

“The mental health integration science embedded in Alluceo will empower all people—individuals and those closest to them—to prioritize mental health and find a supportive, inclusive pathway to wellness,” says Brenda Reiss-Brennan, PhD, APRN, mental health integration director at Intermountain Healthcare. “Alluceo will enable other health systems, payers, providers, patients, and families to experience the same impactful results and, in the process, elevate the health of entire communities.”

For more information, please visit www.alluceohealth.com.

Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 180 clinics, a Medical Group with about 1,500 employed physicians and advanced practitioners, a health plans group called SelectHealth, and other medical services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information, visit www.intermountainhealthcare.org.

Daron Cowley
Intermountain Healthcare
801-442-2834
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