First addiction treatment provider developed for value-based care opens outpatient clinic, supported by technology and community-based teams, in Mooresville, NC

Waltham, MA & Mooresville, NC – Eleanor Health (www.eleanorhealth.com), the first addiction and mental health services provider designed to deliver long-term patient recovery outcomes and modeled on value-based care delivery and payments, officially launched with its first outpatient clinic in Mooresville, NC. The opening marks the first of 10 to 15 Eleanor Health sites set to open in the next year, first in North Carolina, and then across the country.

Eleanor Health is rethinking how to treat addiction, which is now the leading cause of death in America for those under 50, by fully treating addiction as a chronic disease. Eleanor Health will focus on the complete set of clinical and non-clinical factors to manage the disease and provide both human and high-tech support. This includes comprehensive treatment, including medication assisted treatment (MAT), for Opioid and other Substance Use Disorders. The Eleanor Health approach is designed to meet patients where they are in their recovery journey, through outpatient clinics, community settings, and at home through technology and field-based teams. Uniquely, Eleanor Health is designed to be financially accountable for long-term, whole-person outcomes.

Eleanor Health is led by seasoned healthcare innovator, CEO and Co-Founder Corbin Petro, formerly Founding CEO & President of Benevera Health. “We launched Eleanor Health to help people with addiction challenges not only survive, but live amazing lives by providing evidence-based, whole-person treatment for substance use disorders and mental health. We are committed to treating these conditions as a chronic medical illness requiring long-term management, and to being reimbursed based on positive health outcomes.” said Corbin Petro. “We are leveraging data and new technology to enhance in-person clinical service delivery and building a world-class team committed to our mission and vision.”

The founding team at Eleanor Health reflects a diversity of perspectives and experiences that mirrors the people Eleanor will serve. It includes leading national physician, Chief Medical Officer and Co-Founder Nzinga Harrison, MD, formerly CMO of Anka Behavioral Health, and VP of Growth Operations and Co-Founder, Srishti Mirchandani, formerly VP at Oxeon Ventures. To address the human toll taken by addiction, Eleanor Health has been working with national clinical and community experts to design treatment and has recruited a top tier team and board of directors. The board of directors includes influential and prominent healthcare leaders and investors, Andy Slavitt, Trevor Price, David Whelan, Dr. Kate Knutson, and Sonny Goyal.

As the company begins operations in North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) is collaborating with Eleanor Health to expand access to Eleanor Health’s comprehensive treatment services. “The prevalence of substance use disorders, especially fueled by the opioid epidemic, is a national public health emergency,” said Patrick Conway, MD, president and CEO of Blue Cross NC. “There simply aren’t enough high-quality facilities and clinical teams to effectively treat everyone at all stages of their recovery, so we partnered with Town Hall to build and launch Eleanor Health. Starting here in North Carolina, Eleanor Health is providing fully coordinated, high-quality care to individuals and families impacted by substance use and will save lives.”

COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO NATIONAL CHALLENGE

Nationwide, more than 21 million people have a substance use disorder. More than 12.5 million people misuse prescription opioids with over 2 million people suffering from an opioid use disorder. From 1999 to 2017, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose. Despite this rise in deaths, individuals with substance use disorders experience significant barriers accessing quality comprehensive treatment in their community.

Less than 18 percent of those impacted by opioid use disorders get treatment due to lack of access, stigma, and other factors. When people do receive treatment, it is often fragmented, uncoordinated, and not based on evidence, leading to very poor outcomes. Re-occurrence of use rates range between 40-60 percent for substance use disorder treatment, due largely to the fact that many SUD and opioid treatment programs do not address co-occurring mental health conditions and social determinant factors of the disorder, which are critical to achieving long-term recovery.  Additionally, lack of coordination and fragmentation of care across healthcare resulting from fee-for-service payment models leads to a disjointed inflexible experience that reduces a person’s ability to remain in care and sustain recovery.

Eleanor Health is dedicated to

• Providing treatment where most convenient for patients including in-home, in the community, and in Eleanor Health outpatient clinics by using technology and field-based teams

• Delivering comprehensive services in the community including medication assisted treatment, psychiatric evaluation, medication management, individual and group therapy, support to address social determinants of health, and peer recovery coaching.

• Operating on a value-based payment structure so that payment is based on the positive health outcomes achieved, including reducing total health care costs, providing unmatched access, and achieving high patient satisfaction.

• Employing teams of medical practitioners, addiction clinicians, and peer recovery coaches with personal lived experience, to engage and support individuals to achieve their recovery goals.

• Coordinating care across the healthcare and social services continuum in order to improve the patient journey and increase long-term recovery rates and overall health outcomes for individuals.

INVESTORS AND FINANCING

Eleanor Health is also announcing a major financing that was completed in July 2019, led by Mosaic Health Solutions, a subsidiary of Blue Cross NC. Additional investors include Town Hall Ventures, a venture firm co-founded by Andy Slavitt, former Acting Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Town Hall Ventures and Oxeon Ventures participated in the formation of Eleanor Health, selecting markets, working with policy makers, and recruiting the management team.

“When Town Hall Ventures was formed, behavioral health, and specifically opioid and substance use disorder, were high on our list of priorities. Building an integrity-based care and business model and backing this incredible team to provide access and solutions to vulnerable populations suffering from substance use disorder is core to missions that drive Town Hall and Oxeon. I want to thank Patrick Conway, Rahul Rajkumar, and the BCBS North Carolina organization for their leadership and vision in working so closely with us to stand up Eleanor Health,” said Trevor Price, Board Chair of Eleanor Health, CEO of Oxeon and General Partner of Town Hall Ventures.

THE FIRST PATIENT

Eleanor Health is welcoming people into treatment in Mooresville and integrating closely with the community. Grounded in evidence, a sense of community is integral to Eleanor Health’s model – both with existing organizations and in creating new ties.

“We refer to the people we serve as ‘community members’,” says Dr. Nzinga Harrison, Co-Founder and CMO of Eleanor Health. “We are creating longitudinal relationships that allow us to know individuals as more than just patients, and provide whole-person treatment and support. Our goal is not just remission, but improvements in quality of life and meaningfulness. We couldn’t be more excited to be embarking on this journey to recovery with those we serve, and the communities in which they live.”

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About Eleanor Health

Eleanor Health, whose name was chosen for the Greek meaning of Eleanor, “shining light” and as an ode to Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the earliest champions for universal human rights including medical care, is an emerging national addiction treatment provider. The company delivers comprehensive, evidence-based, outpatient treatment for individuals with opioid and other substance use disorders. Eleanor Health has differentiated itself by its evidence-based clinical approach, value-based payment model, level of care coordination, field-based community recovery teams, supporting technology, and focus on whole-person outcomes. The company launched in 2019 in North Carolina and is expanding nationally in 2020.

About Oxeon

Oxeon is a healthcare-focused firm that connects healthcare companies with fundamental drivers of business growth including people, information, and capital. We are, first and foremost, driven by a core belief that exceptional executive talent builds great companies. This is delivered upon by our industry-leading retained executive search firm. From that core philosophy, Oxeon invests in businesses through Town Hall Ventures and shapes and creates companies from scratch from within the Oxeon Venture Studio. The Venture Studio focuses on building healthcare companies de novo and Eleanor Health is the fifth company to be launched by the Oxeon Venture Studio.

About Town Hall Ventures

Town Hall Ventures is an investment firm that invests in health care companies primarily serving vulnerable populations covered by Medicare and Medicaid. With deep experience building businesses, serving in major public and private sector roles, building premier executive teams, and investing across technology and health care, Town Hall partners with entrepreneurs to build transformational businesses from the idea stage to the growth stage.