Brightside

Brightside (Brightside Health Inc.) is a telehealth company delivering remote treatment for anxiety, depression and related conditions. Members begin with a free online assessment and are matched with a dedicated psychiatric provider or therapist, with appointments advertised as available in as little as 24-48 hours. Care is delivered through 1:1 video sessions, anytime messaging with the assigned provider, interactive lessons and weekly check-ins used for proactive progress tracking and treatment or medication adjustment; the company cites an average of 30-plus touchpoints in the first 12 weeks.

Service lines include Personalized Psychiatry, in which providers analyze more than 100 personal data points to select medication likely to be tolerable and effective; a virtual therapy program combining cognitive and behavioral techniques with independent skill practice and the evidence-based Unified Protocol; a Suicide Prevention Program (formerly Crisis Care) built on the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) framework; Teen Care for ages 13 and up; and an intensive outpatient offering. Conditions addressed include major depressive disorder, generalized and social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, PTSD, OCD, bipolar disorder, insomnia, postpartum depression, PMDD, seasonal affective disorder and phobias.

The company operates a nationwide network of therapists and psychiatric providers, runs as a fully remote team, and states that its platform and supporting infrastructure are HIPAA compliant and HITRUST Certified for information security.

Founding story

The founders describe building Brightside after watching close family members struggle to obtain effective mental health care, seeking to replace trial-and-error medication and unstructured talk therapy with evidence-based, personalized treatment. CEO Brad Kittredge cites living with a close family member with depression; Chief Medical Officer Mimi Winsberg, MD, cites seeing patients with difficult depression improve on the right treatment; Principal AI Engineer Jeremy Barth cites losing a close family member to depression.

Business model

Brightside delivers clinician-provided virtual psychiatry and therapy directly to consumers and through payer and provider partnerships, accepting most major insurance including Medicare and Medicaid. It also markets to health plans, health systems and medical groups, and operates an affiliate program.

Revenue is generated from treatment services billed through insurance, including most major commercial plans, Medicare and Medicaid, alongside self-pay access to psychiatry, therapy or combined care.

Traction

Published outcomes cited by the company include 55-75% of patients achieving remission within 12 weeks (BMC, 2022), 57-77% of people reporting no suicidal thoughts after 12 weeks of treatment (JMIR, 2022), and response and remission rates 30-50% higher than a leading US health system (Cureus, 2022). Payer partnerships expanded covered lives from 55M in 2021 to 65M in 2022 and over 100M following the 2023 Medicare and Medicaid announcements.

Latest developments

Recent additions include the Teen Care program for ages 13 and up, an intensive outpatient offering, and the October 2023 announcement of Medicare and Medicaid partnerships extending availability to more than 100 million covered lives.