Summit Agenda

8:00 AM ET  Registration, Breakfast and Networking

9:00 AM ET  Chair’s Opening Remarks 

Solome Tibebu, Founder, Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech

9:10 AM Keynote Presentation: A Vision of Adolescent Mental Health and an Integrated Continuum of Care

• Reforming private and public insurance needs to be a central focus for the development for effective mental health reform and innovation.
• Data sharing and stewardship: A Continuum of Care able to take ownership and accountability for meaningful outcomes must be able to coordinate delivery of services while also defining and tracking those outcomes across programs.
• Despite growing recognition of the burden associated with mental health, and the availability of cost-effective treatments, they are not afforded the same policy or program priority as comparably disabling physical conditions. Working together we must acknowledge the prevalence of mental health issues in our society and educate away old ideas about mental health.

Alex Stavros, CEO, Embark Behavioral Health 

9:35 AM ET Keynote Panel Discussion with Open Q&A:  Creating a Patient-Centered, Integrated Continuum of Care from Prevention and Wellness to Crisis Intervention  

Our current mental healthcare system is fragmented, disconnected and overwhelmed. Some say we do not have a mental healthcare system in the US, just a number of silos working independently with limited entry points. This results in a confusing mental healthcare journey which is hard to navigate. In order to improve access, engagement and outcomes in mental health and substance use care, we need to re imagine the way we deliver care. 

• How can we switch the focus to personalized, holistic, whole-person care?
• How can we create a personal and connected mental health care system? 
• What is it like to be a person in this system, and how can we increase entry points and improve navigation through the system? 
• How can we integrate technology and digital solutions to improve the mental health and wellbeing ecosystem?
• How can we reimagine the current fragmented system to improve people’s mental healthcare journey?

Trip Hofer, CEO, OptumHealth Behavioral Health Solutions

Rhonda Robinson Beale, SVP Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Mental Health Services, UnitedHealth Group

Suzanne Kunis, Vice President, Behavioral Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey 

Naomi Garcia Alvarez, Associate Vice President, Behavioral Health, Molina Healthcare

Anitha Iyer, Director of Behavioral Health Population Management, Mount Sinai Health System

Adam Chekroud, President and Co-founder, Spring Health

10:20 AM ET  Morning Break, Refreshments & Networking

11:00 AM ET Presentation: How is 988 Helping to Reimagine the Way We Combat the Behavioral Healthcare Crisis? 

This session will dive into the initial outcomes following the transition to the 988 hotline last July, and how this hotline can impact the way we tackle the current mental healthcare crisis. 

• Discussing the initial findings following the transition to the 988 hotline last July
• Exploring how the 988 hotline can help in transforming the mental healthcare system in the US

John Palmieri, Senior Medical Advisor, SAMHSA; Acting Director, 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office

11:25 AM ET Presentation: How Measurement-Based Care is Transforming Behavioral Health

Jeremy Weisz, Co-founder and CEO, Greenspace Health 

11:50 AM ET Fireside Chat with Open Q&A: Expanding, Developing and Diversifying the Workforce

The demand for mental healthcare services was rising before the pandemic, and the pandemic stretched an already overburdened mental healthcare workforce to breaking point. The provider shortage is arguably the biggest challenge facing the mental healthcare space today and the gap between demand and supply is only growing. 

• What innovative models can we use to expand the mental health care workforce?
• How can we employ and cultivate a representative workforce at all levels?
• How can we leverage tech across the continuum of care to ease the burden for mental health providers? 
• How can we build a system which focuses on prevention and improves resilience and wellness in the population?
• What can we do to diversify the workforce and increase mental health care options for patients?

Vikram Patel, The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health, Harvard Medical School

12:20 PM ET Lunch & Networking

1:50 PM ET Presentation: What Would it Look Like if we Truly Prioritized Social Determinants of Health in Mental Healthcare Interventions?

It is without doubt that social determinants of health impact a patient’s mental health and how likely they are to access support. However, there is still a way to go before social determinants of health are prioritized as much as diagnoses.

• How can we reimagine mental healthcare systems to prioritize social determinants of health as much as we do diagnosis?
• What would this look like from a strategy standpoint? 
• Do insurance companies need to buy into this for this to be fully realized?

Deb Goldfarb, Director of Behavioral Health, Population Health, Boston Medical Center

2:15 PM ET Presentation: Addressing the Institutional Barriers to Access in the Mental Healthcare System 

Seeking help for mental health support can be difficult, but particularly so for marginalized populations. Addressing these barriers to care is the first step in challenging and overcoming them, and improving access to mental healthcare treatment for all. 

• How do we improve access for behavioral healthcare for underrepresented and marginalized communities
• How do we address the mental health inequities in the mental healthcare system 
• Ensuring trauma informed, culturally appropriate ways to address the mental health needs of all

Jahmal Miller, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Dignity Health’s Mercy Medical Group at CommonSpirit Health

2:40 PM ET Panel Discussion with Open Q&A: Embedding Equity and Excellence in Mental Healthcare

The pandemic has worsened and highlighted health disparities in the mental healthcare system. To move forward and truly embed equity and excellence in the mental healthcare system, we need to overcome stigma and discrimination, reduce disparities and promote social justice. How can we systematically pursue health equity and provide whole person care?

• What are the different barriers which prevent people from seeking care, and how can we address these barriers? 
• How can we improve preventative care which addresses the root causes of their mental health or substance use disorder?
• How can we take a holistic lens to view people with all their needs and strengths, not just their diagnosis?
• How do we build models and systems to improve access to inclusive, trauma-informed care?
• How do we evaluate systems which increase access to marginalized populations?

Arthur Evans, CEO, American Psychological Association 

Tracy Parris-Benjamin, Director, Community Health and Health Equity, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

Linn Parrish, Head of Health Equity Alliances and Partnerships, Takeda

Ariela Safira, Founder and CEO, Real

3:25 PM ET Afternoon Break, Refreshments & Networking

4:10 PM ET Presentation: Innovative Strategies for Democratizing Mental Health Support and Bridging the Access Gap

• How to tackle the national mental health crisis by offering population-based solutions that reduce stigma and drive engagement for everyone you support
• Proven models for practically and affordably adding prevention and early intervention into your behavioral health system of care.
• Illustrate data-driven strategies to help your organization efficiently focus on critical impact areas.
• Case Studies: what success looks like across a range of healthcare organizations, from workforce wellbeing to patient care.

Deryk Van Brunt, DrPH, Clinical Professor, UC Berkeley School of Public Health | Co-Founder and CEO, CredibleMind

4:35 PM ET Presentation: Expanding the Mental Health Care Toolbox

To combat the current mental healthcare crisis in the US, innovation is needed to increase the care options, and integrate these into the healthcare system. 

• Exploring new, innovative treatment models for mental health and substance use disorders 
• Discussing how we can diversify and scale up care options and integrate these tools into the mental healthcare delivery system
• How do we support patients who aren’t being helped by current models?

Wayne Young, CEO, The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

5:00 PM ET Presentation: How Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Products are Solving for Pain Points such as Stress and Anxiety in the Context of the Larger Mental Health Landscape

• The evolution of the employee assistance program (EAP), and how it is solving for pain points, such as stress and anxiety, in the context of the larger mental health landscape.
• Strategies for organization’s to prioritize employee well-being through the use of EAP products, tools and service.
• How EAPs promote total health, well-being and work-life balance to help support individuals in and out of the workplace.

Brooke Wilson, Head of Resources For Living, CVS Health 

5:25 PM ET Panel Discussion with Open Q&A: How Can we Improve Access to Appropriate, High-Quality, Evidence-Based Care?

A large proportion of people live with a substance use or mental health challenge, an issue only exacerbated during the pandemic. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the number of adults reporting symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder nearly tripled, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that drug overdoses increased 15% in 2021. An alarming number of people with mental health or substance use challenges admitted to not receiving care. 

• What are the main challenges preventing people from accessing mental health and substance use care?
• How can digital tools support measurement based care and expand access? 
• How can we not only improve access, but improve access to appropriate, evidence based, high-quality care? 
• What can we do to improve access to mental health and substance use care?

David Matteodo, Executive Director, Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems

Philip Wang, Director of the Center for Learning Health Systems, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Professor of the Practice of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Doreen Marshall, VP, Mission Engagement, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention 

Danny Freed, Founder & CEO, Blueprint  

6:10 PM Drinks Reception 

8:00 AM ET Registration, Breakfast and Networking

9:00 AM ET Chair’s Opening Remarks

Brandon Jones, CEO, Triad

9:10 AM ET Presentation: Expanding Access via Peer Support and Peer-to-Peer Models

Peer-peer support models have the power to increase access to mental health support programs, transform how we think about mental healthcare services and provide a sense of hope and community to young people.

• Exploring how we can think of mental health more broadly than just services
• How can we reimagine mental health care with people with lived experience at the center?
• How can we advocate for support programs for young people and advance the public education, policy and organization side?

Kelly Davis, Associate Vice President of Peer and Youth Advocacy, Mental Health America

9:35 AM ET Panel Discussion with Open Q&A: Improving Access and Engagement with Mental Healthcare Services for Youth

The pandemic only exacerbated the already increasing prevalence of mental healthcare and substance use issues in young people, with more than half of parents expressing concerns over their children’s mental wellbeing. We must address that the current youth mental health system is flawed and reform the way we promote wellbeing in young people. 

• What barriers prevent young people accessing and engaging with mental healthcare services?
• What tools can we employ to improve early intervention?
• How can we support teachers and parents to identify mental healthcare issues and support young people?
• How can we best reach and engage young people living with mental health, substance use and eating disorders?
• What would you like to see change to improve the lives of young people living with mental health and substance use disorders?

Marleen Litt, Director of Children’s Services, Behavioral Health, UnitedHealthcare C&S 

Miri Bar-Halpern, Director of Intensive Outpatient Program, Boston Child Study Center 

Vandana Pant, Senior Director Design & Innovation, Sutter Health

Ashley Monterrosa, Youth Mental Health Advocate, California Children’s Trust

Merrill Friedman, RVP, Inclusive Policy & Advocacy, Elevance Health

Monika Roots, President and Chief Medical Officer, Bend Health, Inc.

10:20 AM ET Morning Break, Refreshments & Networking

11:05 AM ET Presentation: Aligning Incentives for Long Term Mental Healthcare Services

Ensuring investment and aligned incentives for long term mental healthcare services is crucial in reducing deaths of despair and improving outcomes. This presentation will discuss how policies can and must be put in place to innovate for sustainable change. 

• Discussing how on a policy and economic level we can work towards reducing deaths of despair 
• A deep dive into the planning required to align incentives and improve mental healthcare  
• How we can ensure innovations are sustainable for long-term, value-based mental health care  

Nathaniel Counts, Senior Policy Advisor for Mental Health to the Commissioner of Health & Mental Hygiene, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

11:30 AM ET Presentation: Presentation: Advancing Policies to Address the Mental Health Care Crisis

• Addressing Systemic Issues – How Can We Change the Ways of Treating Mental Illness?
• What has COVID Taught Us about Health Equity and Access in Mental Health?
• Recognizing Mental Illness as a Chronic Disease

Debra Barrett, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.

11:55 AM ET Closing Panel with Open Q&A: Improving Outcomes in Substance Use and Mental Healthcare

Collaboration between all stakeholders from across the mental healthcare ecosystem is key to improving outcomes for those living with substance use or mental healthcare disorders. This panel will dive into what is currently contributing to poor outcomes, and how collaboration, policies and innovation in the space will improve the lives of patients. 

• In the current mental healthcare system, what is contributing to the poor outcomes and how can we tackle these factors?
• What innovative solutions have been employed which have positively impacted outcomes? 
• How can providers and payers collaborate to improve outcomes in substance use and mental healthcare?
• What federal and state policies will impact improving outcomes?
• What role does technology play in improving outcomes in substance use and mental healthcare?

Jill Borelli, Vice President, Behavioral Health, Point32Health

Bradley Lerner, Director, Public Policy, Manager, Behavioral Health and Enterprise Issues, Elevance Health 

Shana Hoffman, President & CEO, Lucet

David Wolfe, Medical Director, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP)

Anshu Choudhri, Vice President, Policy Development and Strategy,Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Chair’s Closing Remarks and Close of the Future of Mental Healthcare Summit 

Brandon Jones, CEO, Triad