This is an exclusive BHB+ story Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services creates significant uncertainty for the behavioral health industry. That puts it diplomatically. Under Kennedy, health care could undergo a brutally painful evolution to bring about his highly skeptical and well-outside-of-mainstream worldview. And I say “could be” because there is still so much waiting and seeing to do. What we are waiting to see is if RFK Jr....

Robots in autism therapy could play a critical role in supporting patient development. But don’t expect to see too many of these showing up in homes or clinics any time soon. Accelerating tech advancements, the increasing rate of autism diagnosis in America and structural challenges within the autism therapy industry make looking for new tools an utmost priority. But this uber-specific subcategory of health care technology simply isn’t likely to grab the limelight now or in the future,...

A slew of psychiatric facilities have closed as the industry faces growing pains. These closures come in the wake of several of the largest players in the space facing misconduct allegations. The result has been several facility closures, exacerbating the shortage of inpatient and acute psychiatric services at a time when such health issues continue to worsen in the U.S. Announcements and reports of psychiatric facility closures continued steadily throughout 2024. Leaders in the space say...

Optum acquired outpatient mental health providers Refresh Mental Health and CARE Counseling in a bid to cut wait times. Top brass at Optum’s parent organization, the health care behemoth UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH), explained that Optum is prioritizing providing health plans with comprehensive, timely services that can be offered under value-based care contracts. Optum is the health care services arm of UnitedHealth Group. Those comprehensive services include primary care, behavioral...