Three C’s of Digital Behavioral Health: Content, Community, and Care
Note: This was cross posted on LinkedIn. You can view the accompanying video presentation from the Going Digital: Behavioral Health Summit as well.
In the past couple of years, and especially in the past few months, the consumerization of American healthcare seems to have taken off. Many of us now download apps to help us sleep, refill prescriptions off of instagram ads, and are increasingly comfortable with telehealth. As a result, every company that serves patients, whether through direct or third party payment, is now a consumer company. For digital behavioral health startups, whether you are DTC or B2B2C, you need a new playbook for this increasingly digital world of consumer choice.
Luckily, this is an emerging model that has helped companies, including Tempest, be consumer-first as they build awareness, acquire customers, and deliver interventions online. I call it the Three C’s - Content, Community and Care. None of these concepts are new, but it’s the way in which they are brought together holistically as a continuum of services that can be a key to success.
Bringing together the Three C’s for awareness, intervention and retention
The first of the Three C’s, Content, is important both before a customer signs up for your product and as part of an intervention. While content marketing is nothing new in the consumer world, using the same tactics to sell therapy as we might use to promote eye glasses or suitcases may feel foreign at first. However, speaking openly about mental health issues, whether it is Michael Phelps for Talkspace, influencers for Betterhelp, or individuals sharing their own experiences, benefits all of us, not just the sponsoring company. Similarly, while content-based interventions are common, with workbooks, homework, and videos part of both 1-1 and group-based approaches, modernizing the delivery of those interventions is a differentiator.
The second of the Three C’s, Community, may seem the simplest but actually be the hardest. Shared experience, whether online or offline, drives adherence and retention. However, creating a community that is cohesive and sticky is both art and science. Spero Venture’s recent overview of Product-Led Community gives an exhaustive primer of things to consider from inside and outside of healthcare. I’ve found that Community must be defined and moderated to drive retention, with clear agreements and norms across the membership. This is also a good place to integrate peers (those with lived experience) into an intervention.
The final C, Care, is the most obvious one, but also the one where online modalities allow entrepreneurs to be creative. A subset of people in a holistic program will need group and/or 1-1 intervention, whether coaching, counseling or medical care. Who delivers that Care, how it is formatted, and the platform used may vary widely. Regardless, Care should be standardized and timebound, and built into a program that incorporates Community and Content for both intervention and aftercare.
The Three C’s in action
There are many good examples of companies that have either started with a Three C model or have moved into one. Tempest, which offers a modern take on recovery for those struggling with alcohol and other substances, started as a content site, Hip Sobriety, before adding a holistic intervention bringing together all three elements. We’ve since evolved that intervention into different personalized care plans that are content, community or care led, depending on the individual’s needs.
NOCD is another example of a company that offers all three, but uses their free app-based community as an entry point. Ginger offered 1-1 services first before offering a content library and branching out on social media. Conversely, Marigold started as Community-as-a-service and is now adding training content and working through how to partner with existing providers. And farther afield but within the digital health and wellness space, WW, which started with Weight Watchers meetings, now offers three tiers of digital membership: content only, online group workshops + content, and workshops, content and 1-1 coaching. And at the Going Digital Behavioral Health Summit last week, where I presented on the Three C’s, almost every company I talked to was working on some iteration of an integrative approach to awareness, intervention and retention.
How to build (or contract with) a Three C’s organization
The next few years will show how the combination of Content, Community, and Care drives engagement, outcomes, and ROI. However, I do think this model is here to stay, especially as consumers continue to choose telehealth and payers increasingly use bundled payments and support peer coaching. So, if you are interested in designing a consumer-first digital behavioral health company, or interested in working with one, what should you keep in mind?
Define your audience, and how you are going to engage them. Ask yourself what you are going to do differently.
Develop clear brand guidelines for your content, community, and care.
Programmatize your method, and lay out how these elements fit into an intervention. Be sure to ensure consistency
Have a plan for payment. If you are DTC, have clear products for people to buy. If you are B2B2C, understand how to fit your services within existing payment structures.
Measure what matters. Think about engagement, impact and clinical outcomes across your product, and how that translates to ROI
If you are interested in learning more, starting a company using this model, or have thoughts to share, please reach out!
Note: I am currently COO of Tempest and own equity in Ginger and Marigold.