The Wysa mental health app can now be offered as a benefit to small and midsize employers through its new partnership with PlanSource, a benefits administration company.
Wysa — founded in 2015 and located in Boston, London and Bangalore, India — offers AI-powered mental health support through its free app. Their chatbot provides cognitive behavioral health therapy and asks users open-ended questions about how they’re feeling. Based on people’s responses, the chatbot guides them through different therapeutic techniques. If someone needs to talk to a therapist, they can schedule a virtual session.
plan source, based in Orlando, Florida, allows employers to outsource their benefits program to the company. PlanSource guides employees through the benefits search process, helps with enrollment, assists with billing, and provides various other resources. It has more than 5,000 employer clients, including the American Museum of Natural History, Indeed, and Krispy Kreme.
Through the new association, which was Announced Friday, Wysa is now a benefit option for the PlanSource employer network. It’s a referral-based partnership, which means when companies turn to PlanSource for mental health benefits, Wysa can be presented as an option. It especially helps Wysa reach smaller employers that employ at least 250 people, said Ramakant Vempati, co-founder and president of Wysa.
“Historically, Wysa has been available as an employee benefit through large insurers, or directly to multinational companies as a proactive mental health measure to improve staff well-being,” Vempati wrote in an email. “Now, through this partnership, it will be possible for smaller teams to also offer Wysa as part of their employee benefits package and help make positive mental health and resilience an integral part of the company culture.” .
Digital behavioral health support has increasingly become a popular benefit for employers, especially as Covid-19 has highlighted mental health needs. a recent poll of large employers by Business Group on Health showed that 85% of respondents will expand benefits and mental health coverage in the future. But for small employers, providing mental health support isn’t so easy, Vempati said.
“Mental health benefits have become a key draw for new hires and an important retention tool in today’s turbulent job market,” Vempati said. “Nevertheless, [small and medium sized businesses] They generally have fewer resources to devote to additional benefits, such as mental health support tools. Our goal is to ultimately help level the playing field and ensure access for businesses of all sizes.”
It has been a great year for Wysa, who Announced in July it raised $20 million in series B funding from HealthQuad and British International Investment. In May, his app also received Breakthrough Device Designation from the Food and Drug Administration for patients 18 and older diagnosed with chronic musculoskeletal pain, depression and anxiety.
The mental health company’s main competitors include employee mental health benefit services such as spring healthmental health apps like conversation space and AI-powered chatbots like aybot, Vempati said earlier. But the founder claimed that Wysa differentiates itself by offering 24/7 support.
Photo: metamorworks, Getty Images
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