Behavioral health prediction and care navigation company Ontrak has expanded its key partnership with Sentara Health Plans in Virginia. 

The expansion constitutes a dual expansion of Ontrak's Engage platform, a 12-month coaching-specific option for members who might benefit from ongoing care coaching to address physical and behavioral health barriers and social needs. 

The Ontrak platform uses AI to predict people whose chronic disease could improve with behavior changes, then it recommends care pathways to improve a person's health while engaging with people.

In addition, Ontrak will offer Engage to active commercial fully insured members and self-funded members on an opt-in basis with the aim of increasing the range of services available to members. Engage will also be given to the Marketplace membership.

The expansion aims to allow more members to benefit from constant care coaching designed to address their physical and behavioral health needs, including social determinants of health.

According to the company, the expansion extends support for closing Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) gaps in care for the members served.

This strategy is designed to advance the partnership between Ontrak Health and Sentara Health Plans, in the wake of the WholeHealth+ expansion announced earlier this year. 

Via targeted outreach to members, the expansion amounts to more than six times an increase in the number of Sentara Health Plans members eligible and identified for Ontrak solutions. 

The addition of the Engage solution is an outcome of Ontrak Health and Sentara Health Plans' partnership to offer Ontrak’s innovative Advanced Engagement System more across Sentara Health Plans’ commercial population.

Mary Lou Osborne, president and chief commercial officer of Ontrak Health, said the company is looking forward to expanding its partnership with Sentara Health Plans and to offer the Engage solution to a broader population. 

"This expansion exemplifies the strong collaboration between Ontrak and Sentara Health Plans, and we look forward to continuing to provide innovative solutions and outcomes that support the health and well-being of Sentara Health Plans’ members," Osborne said in a statement. 

THE LARGER TREND

In 2020, Ontrak acquired LifeDojo, a behavioral health-change platform for employers. LifeDojo’s platform uses a member-centric method for behavior change in order to improve health outcomes.

It combines personalized coaching with mobile applications to help employees engage in healthy habits, such as getting more sleep, being active, healthy eating and practicing disease management.

In 2019, Optima Health, the health plan division of Virginia integrated delivery system Sentara Healthcare, launched CareLink, a collaboration with MDLive to utilize telehealth to improve population health and quality measure scores. Optima has worked with MDLive to design the product, which can be accessed through MDLive's Care Connector Portal.

In 2015, MDLive raised $50 million from Bedford Funding bringing the company's total funding to almost $73.6 million. Sentara Healthcare was among existing investors.