May 13, 2025
Headway launches nationwide solution to bridge the primary care-mental health divide through insurance
Headway
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May 13, 2025
Today, we're announcing a major step forward in our mission to build a mental healthcare system everyone can access: the nationwide launch of our integrated care solution that creates seamless pathways between primary and mental health care, all covered by insurance.
As the nation’s largest network of insurance-accepting mental health providers, Headway is uniquely positioned to execute a collaborative approach that gets high-need patients to the right care at the right time.
The problem we’re solving
Headway’s research found that nearly half of patients seek out mental health care from their primary care provider (PCP) or their insurance network. Yet according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, approximately 66% of PCPs were unable to secure outpatient mental health services for their patients, largely due to insurance barriers and fragmented systems.
"The fragmentation between physical and mental healthcare isn't just an inconvenience, it's failing patients and their health," said Andrew Adams, Founder & CEO of Headway. "Primary care doctors are often the first to identify mental health concerns, but they're left without a reliable way to get patients the care they need. By integrating directly into doctors' referral workflows, we're building the infrastructure to ensure no patient slips through the cracks."
Decades of research have shown that integrated care leads to better outcomes and treatment adherence, and the American Psychiatric Association reports that effective integration can lower overall healthcare costs by 10-15% through reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations.
Our solution: How it works
Through their existing electronic health record (EHR) system, physicians can refer patients to Headway in less than two minutes. Headway will then get in touch with referred patients within one day, offering patients the choice to self-book or work directly with Headway's clinically-led care advocacy team to find their right provider.
What makes our approach unique is the "closed-loop" communication system between physical and mental health providers. Referring physicians can receive weekly secure updates on their patients' care status, ensuring they are never left wondering if their patients received the care they needed.
The impact for patients and providers
Dr. Sally H. Kwa, Internist at NYU Langone ACWS and an early adopter of the Headway partnership, describes the impact: "Before partnering with Headway, I felt helpless in trying to find therapists for my patients, often without knowing if they ever received care. Now I can refer a patient during their appointment in under two minutes, and I get updates on their progress. This has transformed how we deliver integrated care."
Headway has established partnerships with medical organizations representing over 15,000 clinicians (across specialties like primary care, pediatrics, OB/GYN, and emergency medicine), who have made more than 10,000 referrals. Unlike past integration efforts that have struggled due to insufficient provider networks or siloed care models, Headway has built both the infrastructure and quality assurance systems needed for collaboration.
Dr. Jeff Gould, MD, Senior Medical Director and Head of Clinical Team at Headway, emphasizes the clinical importance of this approach: "Our approach goes beyond simply connecting patients to providers. We provide white-glove matching support, carefully navigating patients to the right provider based on their diagnosis, specialty needs, and personal preferences to create the optimal therapeutic match. Our robust clinical oversight protocols, provider quality monitoring and outcome measurement systems maintain the highest standards across our network, delivering effective care that's truly tailored to each patient."
What makes Headway’s approach different
Headway’s scale and quality uniquely position the company to solve the core connection problem in care integration:
"Historically, widespread adoption of collaborative care has been stymied by the lack of infrastructure and incentives among providers,” commented Dr. Dena Bravata, MD, MS, Headway Advisor. “Headway has built the necessary infrastructure to facilitate high quality collaborations among clinicians, each bringing their specialized skills to bear on the care of complex patients. It's exciting to consider how patients and providers will benefit from integrated care.”
Looking ahead
As we roll out this integrated care solution nationwide, we're focused on expanding our partnerships with health systems, primary care networks, and insurance providers to ensure that more patients can access the mental health care they need, when they need it.
If you're a health system, hospital system, or PCP interested in learning more about our integrated care solution, reach out to our partnerships team at [email protected].
If you're looking for mental health care, you can find a provider through Headway or ask your primary care doctor if they can refer you through our network.
Together, we're building a mental healthcare system that works for everyone.
