MAP Health Management Acquires CARMAhealth to Deliver First Peer-led, Behavioral Health Home
June 15, 2021Integrating Behavioral Health and Medical Services into MAP’s Virtual Peer Support Model Offers Added Value and an Integrated Continuum
MAP Health Management, LLC., the leading provider of virtual peer support services, is expanding its capabilities to virtual and in-person primary medical and behavioral healthcare with the acquisition of CARMAhealth (CARMA), a primary care and behavioral health management service organization. As a result of the acquisition, MAP will be able to leverage its peer-led support capabilities to facilitate an integrated continuum of medical services that include primary medicine, behavioral health and care management, designed to promote lasting recovery, encourage self-care, improve treatment outcomes and reduce health care costs.
CARMA is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is operational in Texas, Florida, and Virginia. CARMA delivers a multi-disciplinary and integrated model of care that blends virtual and face-to-face primary care and medical behavioral health services. CARMA’s mission is to create a medical home for patients, families and the communities they serve. CARMA is an acronym for Collaborative Addiction Recovery Management and Assistance.
The relationship between substance use disorders and mental health needs is unquestionable, with data showing that roughly half of those who experience a mental illness during their lives also experience a substance use disorder and vice versa. To further exacerbate this, during the pandemic, adults have reported symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorders at an alarming rate of 4 in 10 vs. 1 in 10 pre-pandemic.
Due to the chronic nature of the conditions MAP and CARMA support, patients are managed across a spectrum of acuity and these combined services will allow MAP to more effectively meet patients where they are by mobilizing the right level of support at the right time. MAP’s Peer Support model for behavioral health and substance misuse has proven to deliver greater than 70% monthly patient engagement rates and ultimately result in improved quality of life, reduced recidivism, and costs, such as ER visits.
MAP’s services will continue to be peer-led but, though MAP’s partnership with CARMA’s affiliated practices, will expand to include additional value-added services to support partnerships with substance use and behavioral health providers and payers. MAP’s provider partners in targeted markets will now have access to Medical Director services including 24/7 on-call services and telepsychiatry. Collectively, MAP and CARMA’s practices will enable patient access to:
- Comprehensive peer services bundle – personally matched peer specialist, scheduled 1 on 1 sessions, on-demand inbound access, 24/7 availability, online group sessions, family support and mobile application
- Telepsychiatry and Behavioral Health
- Primary Care – including 24/7 physician on call
- Virtual and office-based MAT (Medication Assisted Treatment)
- Ambulatory Withdrawal Management
- Brief Counseling and Assessment
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
“Mental health and substance misuse issues are at an all-time high across our country. It’s core to our mission to continue to evolve and create the nation’s leading peer-led behavioral health home. The acquisition of CARMA, in conjunction with its affiliated practices, will allow us to reach and help tens of thousands more people who really need it,” said Jacob Levenson, Founder and CEO, MAP Health Management.
“Since we founded CARMAhealth in 2017, it has been our goal to enhance engagement with the substance misuse services we offer, expand access, improve patient experience and drive better outcomes. We are excited to collaborate with MAP and deeply integrate peer support services as a standard of care into our collaborative addiction recovery management model. This is the next step in providing comprehensive support for people with SUD and other behavioral health problems,” said Carlos Tirado, Founder and Chief Medical Officer, CARMAhealth.
About CARMAhealth
CARMAhealth manages full-service healthcare providers with locations in Texas, Florida and Virginia that provide comprehensive primary and psychiatric care for individuals with substance use disorder. The CARMA affiliated practices’ team of specialized doctors, nurse practitioners, and mental health professionals provide stigma-free, evidence-based care to individuals in all stages of addiction, including withdrawal management, medication-assisted treatment, and primary and psychiatric medical care. CARMAhealth providers view addiction as a chronic condition that responds to treatment and improves over time; and, employ science and data in setting the standard for addiction medicine.
