Talkspace Launches Dedicated AI Innovation Group to Advance Provider Efficiency and Enhance Clinical Quality and Operations
July 24 2024 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Focus on clinically-led features, including new
AI smart notes to assist providers
Talkspace (NASDAQ: TALK), a leading online behavioral health
care company, today announced the formation of the dedicated AI
Innovation Group aimed at advancing provider efficiency, and
enhancing clinical quality and overall operational excellence
through responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Created in partnership with Talkspace’s Clinical Quality and
Security and Compliance teams, this initiative marks the next
iteration of Talkspace’s maturing AI program, and a significant
milestone in its commitment to being an innovative, high-performing
provider organization.
The “smart notes” feature is the first feature to launch from
this group. Developed at the request of providers and refined with
extensive testing and feedback, smart notes empower providers to
generate summary notes of member sessions, securely speeding up
documentation time and seamlessly integrating clinical insights
with each client’s unique treatment plan. Each smart note saves
providers an average of 10 minutes per session — approximately
three to four hours per week in administrative tasks at full-time
utilization. Early reviews by providers indicate a 97% positive
response.
“We are excited to formalize our AI efforts as part of
Talkspace’s ongoing commitments to providing high-quality care and
improving the overall provider experience on our platform,” said
Jon Cohen, M.D., CEO of Talkspace. “By integrating AI tools into
our platform, we aim to shorten the time our providers spend on
administrative tasks and equip them with tools that support their
clinical decision-making, while maintaining the integrity of the
human-centered therapeutic experience that so powerfully benefits
our members.”
Talkspace’s AI team will be led by Michael Rodio, General
Manager of AI, who led Talkspace’s core data science team for 2
years, and Katie McCrudden, AI Project Manager, in partnership with
Nikole Benders-Hadi, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Talkspace; Mary
Potter, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Privacy Officer, and Chief
Information Security Officer; and Gil Margolin, Chief Technology
Officer. Future AI initiatives will focus on three key areas:
- Provider Assistance: Help providers focus on what they
do best — deliver care to clients — by simplifying and expediting
providers’ administrative tasks, such as session
documentation.
- Clinical Quality: Drive clinical innovation at scale by
enhancing providers’ clinical decision-making and patient
engagement, and alerting providers to clinical risks in a timely
way. Through research and partnerships, we continue to define best
practices in tech-enabled delivery of mental health care, and to
raise the standard of clinical excellence for our members and
providers.
- General Operational Excellence: Leverage new
technologies to improve productivity and quality of work within the
organization as a whole, further optimizing the flywheel of
therapist supply.
“At Talkspace, we are committed to integrating AI in ways that
enhance the therapeutic experience while upholding the highest
standards of clinical care and ethical responsibility,” said Nikole
Benders-Hadi, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Talkspace. “By
leveraging AI and developing tools that are clinically led and
ethical by design, we can continue to advance the accessibility,
delivery and quality of digital mental health care.”
Talkspace is committed to ensuring that AI is designed
responsibly and ethically. The company’s AI practices are informed
by guidelines from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology
(NIST). A Governance Committee composed of stakeholders in
Talkspace’s clinical network (currently 50% of the committee),
legal and regulatory compliance and product engineering
departments, and industry experts will oversee the ethical
implementation of AI. This announcement follows the announcement of
Talkspace’s AI suicide risk alert system, which, since launch in
2019, has flagged 32,000 members whose messages to their therapists
indicated signs of suicidality or risk of self-harm (as of late
2023).
About Talkspace Talkspace (NASDAQ: TALK) is a leading
virtual behavioral healthcare provider committed to helping people
lead healthier, happier lives through access to high-quality mental
healthcare. At Talkspace, we believe that mental healthcare is core
to overall health and should be available to everyone.
Talkspace pioneered the ability to text with a licensed
therapist from anywhere and now offers a comprehensive suite of
mental health services, including therapy for individuals, teens,
and couples, as well as psychiatric treatment and medication
management (18+). With Talkspace’s core therapy offerings, members
are matched with one of thousands of licensed therapists within
days and can engage in live video, audio, or chat sessions, and/or
unlimited asynchronous text messaging sessions. All care offered at
Talkspace is delivered through an easy-to-use, fully-encrypted web
and mobile platform that meets HIPAA, federal, and state regulatory
requirements. More than 140 million Americans have access to
Talkspace through their health insurance plans, employee assistance
programs, our partnerships with leading healthcare companies, or as
a free benefit through their employer, school, or government
agency.
For more information, visit www.talkspace.com.
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