Headway, creator of the first software-enabled national network of therapists, today announced it has secured a $70 million Series B round of funding. Led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Thrive, GV and Accel, the investment comes just six months after Headway’s Series A. The new capital brings total funding to date to $103 million and gives Headway a new valuation of $750 million.

Headway is making quality mental healthcare accessible and affordable across the United States. The demand for affordable mental healthcare is burgeoning, yet cost remains the biggest barrier to access. Headway is tackling the challenge by providing free software that seamlessly connects patients, therapists and insurance companies. Nearly 70% of therapists do not accept insurance because of the administrative burden for solo practitioners, who comprise 85% of the mental healthcare market today. The time commitment required for processing claims and paperwork reduces the number of patients they can see and for the most part, reimbursement rates have yet to reflect the importance of behavioral care on one’s physical health. This drives up the cost of therapy, making it inaccessible to many Americans desperately seeking support.

Andrew Adams, CEO and CoFounder, said:

“We are breaking the vicious cycle and building a new mental healthcare system that will render inaccessibility an anachronism. We are proud of what we have built in just over a year, and humbled by the grateful responses we have received from patients, therapists and insurance companies. We have created a better way for accessing mental healthcare and are working tirelessly to bring quality care to every American that needs it. State by state, we are committed to offering our solution to help solve the mental health affordability crisis. We’re just getting started

Headway started in New York in April 2019 and has moved swiftly to:

• Enable 3,000+ therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists to accept insurance;
• Add more than 2,000 patients to the Headway platform each month to find great therapists who accept their insurance;
• Facilitate 300,000+ therapy appointments;
• Scale its team to 75+ employees

In recent months, Headway has expanded its reach to 10 additional states: New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, Virginia, Washington, Illinois and Colorado. Net revenue has grown 9X, reflecting significant adoption of the platform by patients, therapists and insurance companies as demand for affordable mental healthcare has soared. Headway has built the infrastructure to connect all parties:

• Patients are at the core of Headway’s mission. Through Headway, prospective patients can search for a therapist who matches their preferences and book directly on Headway’s website, all while having a clear view into what they’ll owe with their in-network insurance plan. From there, the Headway team supports patients with questions along the way.
• Therapists are empowered to grow their private practice and focus fully on their patients instead of paperwork. Headway handles the full process to join an insurance panel, and its free software offers full claim management support, payments and scheduling. With Headway, therapists no longer need to turn patients away because they do not accept their insurance.
• Insurance companies partner with Headway to unlock behavioral health access and quality for their patient networks. Patients can book an appointment directly with a therapist on Headway within five days, compared to the 30-day average with an insurance directory.

“By getting the mental health provider community on the same page with insurance companies for the first time, Headway unlocks affordable mental healthcare for millions of Americans,” said Scott Kupor, Managing Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, who is also joining Headway’s Board of Directors. “We’re incredibly excited to work alongside the Headway team.”

Headway will use the new capital to expand its team to more than 300 people as it works towards its goal of scaling to full national coverage. Headway recently added Cherry Miao, a former Partner at Accel, Headway’s lead seed investor, to its executive team as Head of Finance & Data.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the world’s most influential startups, and know that being part of Headway’s meaningful mission, robust business model, and incredibly talented team is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m thrilled to be helping rebuild America’s mental healthcare system for access and affordability,” said Miao.

About Headway

Headway is building a new mental healthcare system, rewired for access and affordability, through software. Despite one in four people having a treatable mental health condition, the overwhelming majority don’t get the care they need because of high costs. Through its software-enabled network, Headway is connecting patients with therapists who accept insurance, helping providers to expand their practices, and individuals to finally find a therapist they can afford.

This year, Frontiers has been a global Hybrid conference. In line with the “new normal” situation, the format of the 2020 edition has been hybrid, combining online global streaming together with offline events and activities held at hubs in multiple locations such as Italy, Germany, Finland, Spain, the USA, Switzerland and more.

It has been dedicated to digital health innovation in the context of the “new normal”, focusing on telemedicine, digital therapies, breakthrough technologies, patient-centricity, healthcare transformation and ecosystem development.

You can read the full live coverage on the pharmaphorum dedicated pages: Day 1 – Day 2

Germany position as the forerunner became official on November 7^th, 2019, when its Parliament passed the Digital Health Service Act (Versorgung-Gesetz – DVG) aimed at encouraging the use of digital health applications for patients, and providing for a reimbursement mechanisms set out in the Fifth Social Security Code.

According to official projections, as of 2020 more than 73 million Germans will be eligible and for health costs reimbursed by the public health system, and now this also covers digital apps for therapeutic purposes.

90% of the German population is covered by public health insurance, while the remainder relies on private packages that, most likely, will also fall in-line to provide the same levels of coverage for digital health solutions.
This ambitious process was started by German Government Health Minister Jens Spahn, in close collaboration with the Health Innovation Hub (HIH), a task force mandated to “rethink health” from a digital perspective. That effort was led by Dr. Henrik Matthies, who has a strong entrepreneurial background in the field of health.

Which solutions will be eligible for reimbursement?

According to the new regulation, coverage will be extended to digital health solutions similar to low risk class medical devices (class I or IIa) with functionalities mainly based on digital technologies (apps or software solutions). To be eligible for reimbursement, the solution must be used for the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of diseases or to improve the quality of treatment.

Entrepreneurs can submit applications for their digital health solutions for pre-approval and through a fast-track process. This opens the door to a 12 months in-market trial period for those solutions, during which time they will be subject to thorough testing and data collection of their efficacy.

What providers must guarantee?

Not only must safety, functionality, quality and adherence to data protection rules be demonstrated, but the manufacturer must also provide reasonable reasons (scientific evidence is not yet required at this stage) for the contribution that the product will make in terms of improving the process of patient care, quality of life and ethical and legal protections.

If the solution can prove its effectiveness in the 12 months in-market, the federal body (GKV-Spitzenverband) and the manufacturers of the solution will enter negotiations on the amount of be reimbursed for its continued presence in market.

As Dr. Henrik Matthies said, on the occasion of his deep dive at the conference Frontiers Health 2019, last November 14 in Berlin, it will take about three months to decide on the application for the inclusion of a “dam” (digital application) in the health system, so entrepreneurs involved can see the first applications accepted in the system towards the second quarter of 2020. As Matthies also pointed out, the German government has allocated a budget of 200 million euros for 2020 which will provide the pool of funds available for the first wave of digital solutions approved in the health system.

Conclusions

The regulatory framework is in its early stages and aims to be improved. Also important to note that the reimbursement only covers Class I and IIa software medical devices, while non-medical devices or digital apps combined with other medical devices are not covered by the regulation. In addition, the requirements for entering the dedicated register are very stringent. The new regulations are also testimony to a clear ambition for Germany to have political leadership (Germany’s health system being the largest in Europe) and commercial leadership, with it also being the largest healthcare market after the United States. The German government intends to play this role to the fullest extent, making the most of their Presidency of the European Semester, July-December 2020, which also opens the door for Germany to propose and launch an initiative on health data management across all of Europe.

As Germany has taken the initiative to show the way, we can only hope for a spill-over effect on all the other EU countries, and the benefits that EU citizens can gain from this welcome change.

Milan, 1 April 2019 – Remote consultations, digital treatments, medical robotics, wellness apps, Artificial Intelligence: the world of healthcare, too, is moving into a new digital age.

Technology is not only revolutionizing people’s approach to treatment, but actually fostering a new ecosystem in which big companies, start-ups, research institutions, investors, physicians, pharmacists and other stakeholders work together towards a single goal: to prevent disease, nurture health and encourage a culture of wellness.

The subject has been much discussed, including at an event entitled “Frontiers Health at Milan Digital Week: Living the New Ecosystem” organized on 15 March by BNP Paribas Cardif, one of Italy’s top ten insurance companies^[1], and Healthware Group, a leading digital health consultancy.

Combining experience, networking and cross-fertilization of ideas among the ecosystem’s various players has always been the object of events put on by Frontiers Health, which over the last five years has created a worldwide community of healthcare innovators, one to which Healthware is proud to belong.

Digital health has a key part to play in this process of transformation. Reference models, targets, expectations, all are changing; and so is the wider vision.

The insurance industry has moved from simply paying out financial compensation for illness, injury or loss towards the higher aim of preventing and mitigating them; and technology now offers it a chance to develop next-generation policies with innovative services and support, as well as a customer experience featuring promptitude, flexibility and user-friendliness.

Some years ago, BNP Paribas Cardif began its Open Innovation journey towards that goal, inventing a new, innovative and effective model for sourcing Insurtech start-ups and building them into its operations.

This “cross-fertilization” has, for instance, led to a collaboration with Healthware Group to develop an innovative new digital health product, and another with D-Heart, which thanks to one of BNP Paribas Cardif’s Open-F@b Call4Ideas has managed to market the first smartphone-based means of independently carrying out an ECG and referring the results straight to a clinician.

This new ecosystem of health innovation has already shown it can generate value: according to data from DigitalHealth.Network presented during the event, more than $18bn have been invested in Digital Health start-ups between January and October 2018^[2], 56% more than over the same period the year before.

In five years no less than $45bn of venture capital has gone into digital health start-ups on average, a figure to rival the level of investment in the pharmaceuticals industry; and the total value of this market could reach some $400bn in 2024.

The leading trends are digital treatments, with forecast average annual growth of about 30% by 2023^[3], Artificial Intelligence and the lowering of human/machine barriers.

The healthcare sector has begun a digital transformation as radical as any seen in other industries over the last few years – perhaps more so. Digital healthcare is truly revolutionary, because it will enable every operator in the sector to re-shape its production processes, its service provision and the ways it can benefit its users’ health. Health insurers’ presence in the healthcare ecosystem will make it easier to access treatment and will encourage preventive behaviour, said Roberto Ascione, CEO & Founder of Healthware Group.

Our recent study on health confirms the sustainability of this new ecosystem. Patients are more and more 4.0: 77% of them are already using tech to look after their health, and 55% would be prepared to share their health data through tech devices with those in the healthcare sector and with insurers. That trust means we can now enhance our social role, along with the best firms in digital health and other stakeholders in the sector, improving access to products and raising people’s awareness of disease prevention and the culture of wellness. said Isabella Fumagalli, Head of Territory for Insurance in Italy at BNP Paribas Cardif.

The meeting during Milan Digital Week was a special spin-off from Frontiers Health, Europe’s biggest event concerned with digital innovation in the healthcare sector, which takes place in Berlin every November.

Attending the meeting were Roberto Ascione, CEO of Healthware Group & Chairman of Frontiers Health, Isabella Fumagalli, Head of Territory for Insurance in Italy at BNP Paribas Cardif, Andrea Veltri, Deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Cardif, Matteo Penzo Co-founder of Frontiers Conferences, PierPaolo Iagulli, Product Factory Director, Healthware Ventures, Francesca Olivo, Strategy & Customer Manager, EY Advisory, Nicolò Briante, CEO & Co-founder of D-Heart, Sebastian Gruber, Co-Founder & CEO of hi.health, Dario Guido, Head of the Medical Division at Samsung Medical, and Claudia Molteni, Head of Customer Experience & Commercial Innovation at Roche.

The session which was jointly organized by Reserach2Guidance and Healthware took place during last week’s Frontiers Health Conference in Berlin.

It brought together representatives from big payer organizations such as Swiss Re and Allianz, as well as digital health Start-Ups like Kaia Health, Amicomed or hi.health.

The transformation of the payer industry is literally at our doorsteps as the results of Research2Guidance’s recently published global study showed. In regions such as North America or Asia, a plethora of new service and business models are already emerging.

Many of the newly created business models aim at either acquiring new members or provide better service to existing members via digital platforms or digitally assisted services. Examples are BIMA from Sweden offering microinsurance for emerging markets, Vitality from the UK or Zhong An from China, both offering activity-based freemium health insurance coverage. US-based Oscar Health offers its customers digitally assisted concierge services to better manage them and supply more convenient care and assistance.

Other digital business models target specific customer segments such as employers and aim to offer them health insurance platforms from which they can easily select different health plans for their employees and manage them. This is what companies such as bind and Collective Health in the US are doing.

Clover Health is also targeting a particular segment, in their case, these are high-risk patients which they manage better using AI-based tools and services.

US-based company Patch features yet another new business approach: they are licensing their platform for reimbursement optimization to health care providers who can then instantly tell their patients what the reimbursed amount will be and how they can best submit their claim.

These new entrants to the health insurance market could already raise almost 2 billion USD in funding.

Europe is not going so fast, nevertheless, some first-movers have already proven a good traction in the market.

Read the full article on research2guidance.com

It is now a 500-people capped event, split in equal parts between start-ups, industry (pharma, devices, insurance, tech) and investors together with the top ecosystem activators.

As a platform event, many of the global key players, including Digital Therapeutics Alliance or HealthXL, are official partners hosting breakout sessions, which is allowing for a unique deep dive into the digital health scene in just two days.

Combining the iconic Startup Discovery sessions featuring 20 hand-picked companies, the Health Transformers Showcase by StartUp Health, the Bayer G4A cohort showcase together with the presence of the 2018 batches from all the top acceleration/incubation programs including Startupbootcamp and Vertical, Frontiers Health will be home to more than 100 start-up companies to meet alongside game changing, fast growing, companies like Proteus Digital Health, Voluntis, Your.MD, Headspace, Akili, mySugr and Tunstall to name a few.

Innovative panels such as Digital Health: opportunities for large investors, Digital Health for the Developing World, or The future of pharma in a digital world will uncover all new angles of the growing digital health ecosystem.

As in the past years, Frontiers Health will offer plenty of opportunities to learn and experience innovation first hand through workshops and masterclasses such as: Disruptive digital business models for the health insurance industry, Explainable AI and Autonomous Agents in healthcare and Blockchains, between hype and promising applications .

Roberto Ascione, CEO at Healthware Group and Chairman of Frontiers Health, says:

Frontiers Health became a true platform for the digital health innovation ecosystem to thrive. It’s a unique global gathering of people driving the digital transformation of health and fostering collaborations and convergence between industry players in pharma, consumer health, device, insurance and innovative start-ups.

About Frontiers Health 
It is a spin-off event of Frontiers Conferences, which designs and produces international conferences about technology and innovation since 2005. Frontiers Health is one of the leading conferences in the digital health space, combining a unique mix of attendees from investment funds, life science companies, health innovation hubs, insurance companies and start-ups, providing for a unique platform to discuss how innovations in their respective fields are converging to transform healthcare. More at http://www.frontiershealth.co.

2 days of conference activities to dive into guiding themes inspired to healthcare trends and innovation topics: Breakthrough Innovations, Scientific and Medical Validation, Reimbursement and Business Models, Strategic Partnerships, Digital Therapies, Design for Health Transformation, Funding, M&A, path to value, Health Insurance Innovation.

2017 in numbers

500 delegates, 30 countries, 74 presentations, 130 startups and over 70 investors.

Book your seat and join the conversation!