Quartet Health: Healthcare from Head to Toe

By Samantha Denefrio, PhD

What is it?

Physical and mental illness often co-occur in an individual yet healthcare systems are set up to treat these symptoms independently. This siloed approach is detrimental for the patient and increases costs and time to treatment. It also results in more doctor’s visits and sick days raising the price for insurance companies directly and the economy as a whole.

Quartet Health offers a health technology platform that gives participating providers and patients a large community, of both virtual and in-person mental health professionals, to streamline the process of getting the best treatment (i.e. cognitive behavioral therapy) to the patient. Their platform uses predictive analytics that helps doctors recognize underlying mental health conditions. A doctor can quickly find an appropriate referral for any mental health concern using the Quartet platform. Sharing treatment plans, notes, and updates on clinical assessment results, primary care and mental health providers are empowered to support the overall mental and physical health of their patients.

Why is it innovative?

Just like all medical needs, technology and innovation can help to improve mental health. Quartet establishes contracts with leading healthcare plans and uses technology to create a bank of mental health providers that doctors can use to refer their patients. The team of medical professionals can collaborate and decide on the best approach for the patient.

The Market

Primary care providers are often the first line of defense in assessing mental health and addressing psychological symptoms. However, your primary doctor may not be qualified to treat psychiatric conditions. Data shows that prescriptions for antidepressant drugs from general physicians are on the rise and even in the absence of a psychiatric diagnosis (Web MD). When mental health is the source, it is often not adequately addressed. As many as 50% or over 3 million Americans with mental illness are untreated (Mental Illness Policy). Quartet has provided a way to get people the mental health care they need sooner and provide support through the process.

Mission

The name “Quartet” comes from the company’s approach of bringing together 4 key players: doctors, therapists, patients, and insurance providers in an effort to coordinate patient care and improve outcomes.

“Our vision is one day every person with a mental health condition will receive the care that they need. We believe that mental health should be treated just like any other health condition. That’s why we begin with primary care. We arm doctors with the right tools to diagnose patients and easily refer them to a trusted network of mental health providers.” (Quartet)

Advantages

Quartet makes mental health as important as any physical symptom.
They provide a virtual platform for collaboration between providers.
They make access to quality mental health care much easier.
Quartet is available at no cost to primary care and mental health providers.
Quartet offers free, same-day, peer-to-peer curbside consults between a primary care physician and experienced psychiatrist.

Disadvantages

It is not clear how the patient can be proactive in using Quartet’s services.

Funding (Crunchbase)

Total $153 M

June 2019 Series D $ 60 M

Centene Corporation, and returning investors F-Prime Capital Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Oak HC/FT, and Polaris Partners

Jan 2018 Series C $45 M

Polaris Partners, Oak HC/FT, GV, F-Prime Capital Partners, Deerfield Capital Management

April 2016 Series B $40 M

Polaris Partners, Oak HC/FT, GV, F-Prime Capital Partners

March 2015 Series A Early Stage Venture $7 M

Shulman Ventures, Richard Kresch, Polaris Partners, Oxeon Partners, Oak HC/FT, Nicolas Berggruen, Mary Tolan, Kal Vepuri, Frank Williams, F-Prime Capital Partners

Facts Sheet and Details (Crunchbase)