Last week virtual behavioral care company Forefront Telecare closed its Series A funding round for an undisclosed sum. The round was led by Spring Lake Equity Partners with participation from Ziegler Link Age Fund. 

In the same announcement the Novato, California-based telehealth company named Rob Rebak as its next CEO. Before joining the Forefront team he was the CEO of fellow behavioral telehealth platform AbleTo. He also has executive experience after serving as the CEO and chairman at QualityHealth

What they do

Forefront Telecare specializes in providing virtual behavioral telehealth to seniors. It specifically targets Medicare patients in rural hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. 

What it’s for 

Forefront will put the new money toward growing its network of telepsychiatry providers and developing HIPAA-compliant telehealth platforms. The company also plans on moving into new states. 

Market snapshot 

Behavioral health has become a popular use of telehealth services. For example, in 2017 MDLive announced that it would be offering virtual psychiatric services to patients in all 50 states. 

It is also being used by the Department of Veteran’s affairs. At last year’s American Telemedicine Association Conference, representatives from the VA described how telemedicine was being used to treat multiple mental health conditions including OCD, sexual trauma and addiction. 

On the record 

"Today is what I call the era of 'mission-driven innovation' in healthcare. Forefront is one of the companies that truly views the technology-enabled care experience through the eyes of its patients, which was very appealing to me," Rebak said in a statement. "The company is laser-focused on helping some of the most vulnerable among us, our struggling seniors, to cope with challenges that those living in our cities also deal with — depression, anxiety, dementia and thoughts of suicide. In rural communities, these challenges are magnified significantly by the lack of relevant clinicians. I admire what Forefront has done to address these problems of access, quality, cost and integration, and am very excited to begin our next chapter."