Highlights 4.7 to 1 cost offset when PEER is Applied
Builds on earlier publications confirming clinical utility of PEER in Targeting Treatments
MISSION VIEJO, Calif., Sept. 06, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MYnd Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYND), a market leader in improving the delivery of mental health treatment through the combination of telemedicine and data analytics/augmented intelligence, announced today the publication of an article entitled, “A Promising New Strategy to Improve Treatment Outcomes for Patients with Depression,” in Population Health Management, a leading peer-reviewed journal focused on improving health outcomes. The article highlights the positive economic impact to payors and self-insured employers when the Company’s Psychiatric EEG Evaluation Registry (PEER) is utilized to inform therapeutic choices, including a 4.7 to 1 cost offset by reducing “trial-and-error” treatment. These costs savings also correlate to greater efficacy and improved patient adherence.
The Population Health Management article follows recently published results of the EMBARC trial (Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response for Clinical Care) in the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Psychiatry in June 2018, which found that measuring electrical activity in the brain through the non-invasive EEG test can help predict a patient's response to an antidepressant. EMBARC was a multicenter trial, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involving researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, Columbia University, McLean Hospital, Stanford University, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Michigan. EMBARC was the largest and most recent of 45 independent studies which confirm the relationship between EEG and medication response in depression. When discussing the paper, Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, the principal investigator of the EMBARC trial stated, "Although we continue to study brain imaging and blood biomarkers, I do recommend patients ask for these tests when seeking an antidepressant."
According to George Carpenter, CEO of MYnd Analytics, “MYnd Analytics’ PEER tool takes the EMBARC findings further by providing physicians with detailed, actionable information to inform medication selection. By comparing the patient’s EEG to thousands of others in our database, the physician will be able to discern which medications an individual patient is likely to respond to, based on his/her unique neurophysiology.”
John Hornberger, MD, commented, “Due to the high cost of non-response in depression, and the strong effect found in the controlled prospective trials, use of the PEER-recommended list of therapies represents a substantial cost-saving opportunity for health plans, especially those facing renewed efforts by employers and government agencies to provide and document more affordable value-based care.”
Mr. Carpenter continued, “The rising cost and population health impact of depression is clearly illustrated by the increased suicide rate in the US over the last 20 years. Historically, there has been little meaningful improvement in targeting treatments for mental health, until now. This latest study confirms the clinical utility of our proprietary PEER tool in targeting treatment. According to statistics published by the National Institute of Mental Health, over 44 million Americans experience mental health illness in their lives1 and according to the 2-13-2014 survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 30 million Americans are prescribed psychotropic medications each year2. Based on a recent study of 2013 costs published in Health Affairs3, we believe our PEER platform can save approximately $6 billion in drug costs alone, and potentially as much as $60 billion annually, when factoring the total economic burden of major depressive disorders.”
Four randomized, controlled studies of PEER — at Harvard, Stanford, and Walter Reed — have shown that doctors armed with this additional information get better outcomes for their patients. PEER currently has outcomes for over 10,200 unique patients, and the database continues to grow. By combining evidence-based practice with objective information, physicians can improve outcomes and lower the total cost of care. The latest clinical results showed patients of physicians who followed recommendations of the PEER Report had 144% greater improvement in depression scores and 75% greater reduction in suicidality than current standard of care treatment. Further, treatments that followed PEER recommendations resulted in 2.5 times greater adherence to therapy.
(1) Source: National Institute of Mental Health
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.shtml
(2) NYT 4/7/18 Primary source: NHANES
(3) Health Affairs May 18, 2016 https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.1659
About MYnd Analytics
MYnd Analytics, Inc. (www.myndanalytics.com) is a predictive analytics company that has developed a decision support tool to help physicians reduce trial and error treatment in mental health and provide more personalized care to patients. The Company’s Psychiatric EEG Evaluation Registry, or PEER Online, is a registry and reporting platform that allows medical professionals to exchange treatment outcome data for patients referenced to objective neurophysiology data obtained through a standard electroencephalogram (EEG). Based on the Company’s original physician-developed database, there are now more than 39,000 outcomes for over 11,000 unique patients in the PEER registry. The goal of PEER Online is to provide objective, personalized data to assist physicians in the selection of appropriate medications. To read more about the benefits of this patented technology for patients, physicians and payers, please visit: www.myndanalytics.com.
MYnd also operates its wholly owned subsidiarity Arcadian Telepsychiatry Services, LLC which manages a suite of services including telepsychiatry, teletherapy, digital patient screening, curbside consultation, on-demand services, and scheduled encounters for all age groups. Arcadian utilizes patient engagement and re-engagement strategies so that care is effectively completed, helping to comfortably move inpatient care to outpatient, assisting patients in readjusting to their life routine, as well as reducing wait times for mental health treatment. Arcadian’s customer base includes major health plans, health systems, and community-based organizations.
Forward-looking Statements
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, unexpected concerns may arise from the data, analysis or results obtained during the above clinical trials; regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies; failure to protect and enforce MYnd’s data, and intellectual property and other proprietary rights and other unexpected hurdles such as MYnd's ability to successfully expand into various market channels, the ability of its products to successfully target objectivity and increased efficiency in the treatment of various mental health and psychiatric illnesses and MYnd's ability to expand globally in areas where there is an opportunity to improve treatment in mental health, as well as those risks and uncertainties set forth in MYnd's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made herein.
Contact:
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