Owl partners with South Carolina-based health benefit administrator to improve patient outcomes

Owl, a behavioral health tech company, has partnered with Companion Benefit Alternatives (CBA), a behavioral health benefit administrator. 

Amid the emerging popularity of a value-based care model, as opposed to fee-for-service, Owl has argued that the key to improving outcomes is measuring them. That’s what it promises with its measurement-based platform, which CBA providers will use to gain more direct visibility into individual members.

Additionally, through Owl’s Patient Reported Outcomes for a Value-Enhanced Network patient registry, behavioral health outcomes data is anonymous and available to analyze and guide best care practices. The companies hope to continue capturing patient outcomes data through the partnership, which is expected to be made available to industry partners, they said.

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“We chose to partner with Owl to give us greater insights into our members' care journeys and outcomes, which enables us to provide better network access and more valuable behavioral health care benefits,” April Richardson, M.D., medical director of CBA, said in a statement. “Ultimately, our evolution to value-based care will align us more closely with our network providers to the mutual benefit of our members.”

Before Owl, CBA measured member outcomes by looking at historical claims data or standardized performance indicator tools, such as the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures. It also relied on member and provider surveys, the company told Fierce Healthcare.

Integration with Owl thus far has been “straight-forward,” CBA told Fierce Healthcare in a statement, with the Owl solution being used across various care settings, including in-person and telehealth.