Latest / Becker's Healthcare Behavioral Health / Adam Williams, VP of Payer Operations and Strategy at Tava Health

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Adam Williams, VP of Payer Operations and Strategy at Tava Health · Becker's Healthcare Behavioral Health

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  Welcome everyone to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
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  I'm Mariah Muhammad, writer and moderator with Becker's
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  Healthcare. And I'm thrilled to have with me
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  today Adam Williams, vice president of payer operations
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  and strategy at Tava Health. Adam, welcome to
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  the podcast. We're very excited to have you
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  join us today. To get us started, would
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  you mind please introducing yourself and telling us
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  a bit about your background?
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  Yeah. Thanks for having me, Mariah. I'm Adam
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  Williams, and I've spent the last couple decades
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  working in health care administration,
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  in various capacities.
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  You know, I've been fortunate enough to see
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  the industry from a lot of different angles
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  as well as, you know, kinda dealing with
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  the pain points of,
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  access challenges to to health care.
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  I I always kinda start these these things
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  with my why, and my why for me
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  gets back to my dad. And
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  my dad was very sick as a kid
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  and ultimately ended up having a a small
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  bowel transplant.
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  And from that whole procedure, it left us,
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  you know, just riddled with a poor experience
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  in the health care system from a cost
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  perspective
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  where
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  we were
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  our family was millions of dollars in debt
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  because of it, and I wanted to always
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  try to find ways that I could help
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  to make the experience better for others.
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  And so
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  as I've looked at that, I I always
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  try to work at places where we can
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  really make the experience better for all people.
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  And whether that's a patient trying to access
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  care or a provider trying to deliver the
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  care,
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  I've always gravitated towards roles where I can
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  ultimately reduce that friction and improve the way
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  things work.
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  And so over the years, I found myself
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  drawn more and more into the health space,
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  which is what brought me to Tava Health.
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  And
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  through it, you know, I feel like there's
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  a great area here to
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  improve quality, and, ultimately, quality does really matter
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  for us at TABA. And so when someone
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  gets connected to the right therapist or has
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  a great experience,
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  it can genuinely change their trajectory in life.
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  And that's what led me,
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  to TABA. What I love about the work
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  that we do is it's a combination of
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  of a great mission as well as operational
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  problem solving.
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  And so,
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  ultimately, on the surface, mental health often seems
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  very
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  relational, and it absolutely is between the therapist
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  and
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  the client that they're seeing. But you also
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  have to support high quality of care at
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  scale, and that's what we tried to do
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  behind the scenes. And so I really enjoy
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  clearing those roadblocks and creating an environment where
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  therapists can focus on being excellent clinicians
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  rather than just fighting with admin tasks or
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  inefficient workflows.
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  And so when you get to see those
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  foundational pieces right, everything else
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  is able to get better. Right? The outcomes,
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  the retention, the satisfaction for the the provider
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  and the client ultimately, and that's the impact
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  that we can have at TABA.
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  Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving us
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  that information and background.
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  For you, what opportunities and headwinds do you
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  kinda have your eye on right now as
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  we head into the new year?
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  Yeah. I I think the way that we're
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  thinking about it a little bit is we're
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  kind of in an interesting moment in the
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  mental health care space.
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  Ultimately, on the opportunity side, there's, you know,
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  a growing recognition from employers, health plans, and
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  even the general population that, you know, mental
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  health isn't a secondary,
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  talking point anymore. It's it's it's central to
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  our overall wellness.
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  And so as that shift changes the conversation,
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  it's beginning to, you know, look at it
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  in a different lens. And so it's no
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  longer, you know, should we support mental health?
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  You know? Instead, organizations and health plans are
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  asking, how do we do it well?
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  And
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  that opens up doors for companies that can
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  offer high quality measurement based care and and
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  and ultimately really improve the outcomes of the
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  clients
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  and create a better patient experience.
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  And then I also think that there's a
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  great opportunity within integration, so bringing mental health
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  into the broader health care ecosystem.
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  You know, traditionally, it's sort of been siloed.
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  And now we're seeing more and more interest
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  in trying to get behavioral health outcomes to
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  physical health outcomes and workplace performance and cost
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  savings.
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  And those are all things that we can
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  show, improvement in Ataba. And when that alignment
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  creates
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  room for thoughtful partnerships and innovation, you can
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  really start to transcend that that sort of,
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  landscape.
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  But
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  with that, though, there's also these headwinds. Right?
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  You know, we recognize that the mental health
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  space is a super crowded space, and there's
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  a lot of noise. And, ultimately, not every
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  solution is gonna deliver the quality in the
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  way that patients or providers
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  either want or ultimately deserve. And so payers
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  are asking for more accountability,
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  more data, better outcomes,
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  and ultimately,
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  they should. That pressure is increasing on us
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  as well as others.
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  You know? And then the other lens that
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  we sort of look at, which is real
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  where we begin to sort of dive deep
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  is, you know, looking at provider burnout.
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  You know? And so that is a real
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  within the industry.
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  Therapists have to deal with very heavy caseloads.
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  They're seeing dozens of clients a day. There's
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  emotional labor that goes into it, and there's
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  also increasing administrative demands.
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  You know? If if a provider in a
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  solo practice, I often have to have 12
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  different point solutions in order to make my
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  practice successful.
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  And so
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  we've gotta find ways that we can support
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  them well and
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  find ways to improve the whole system for
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  the provider as well.
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  And so part of that navigating the future
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  isn't just seizing opportunities, but it's ultimately being
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  honest about the challenges and then addressing them
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  head on. And so removing as many of
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  those administrative barriers
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  that we can for providers and to make
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  it a more seamless practice for them.
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  Perfect. Yeah. Thank you so much for giving
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  us that information.
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  And, overall, how are you thinking about adding
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  growth and adding value,
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  to your organization
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  for this new upcoming year?
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  Yeah. For for me, you know, growth isn't
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  just about numbers. You know, KPIs or OKRs
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  are great. You know? But, ultimately, it's creating
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  value for the people at the center of
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  our model. So our providers,
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  our clients, and our partners, whether that be
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  a health plan, an employer, or others.
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  And that's how we're gonna be able to
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  build sustainable growth, not just in the short
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  term spikes, but also long term. You know,
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  a big part of our approach is focused
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  on removing friction.
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  And so if we can streamline the processes,
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  make the workflows predictable, and reduce that administrative
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  load on the therapist,
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  then we're making a huge impact
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  for those providers as well as the clients.
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  And, ultimately, you know, when providers feel supported
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  and have the tools
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  and
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  are able to really focus on delivering
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  the care that they want to, it's gonna
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  create better outcomes for everyone.
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  And so
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  when the clients also have a smooth experience,
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  they'll stay engaged.
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  And then, you know, when when partners are
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  able to see those outcomes, they they're able
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  to develop trust with with Tava as well
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  as others, and and that leads to new
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  opportunities.
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  I also think it's a lot about how
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  we use the data. You know?
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  Again, not using data for the sake of
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  just dashboards, but using that data to not
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  just understand but truly transcend how we're thinking
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  about the care that we're delivering.
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  And that will help us to make smarter
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  decisions,
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  improve the model of care as well as
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  communicate value to partners in a way that's
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  clear and compelling.
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  And then, ultimately, when we think about adding
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  value and being a reliable partner,
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  it's really developing trust and building a great
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  relationship with those that we try to partner
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  with. And so when we show up and
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  and develop and deliver on our promises,
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  we're gonna make life easier for everyone that
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  we work with, including organizations and employers, and
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  that ultimately becomes our competitive advantage of TABA.
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  The growth ultimately becomes a natural byproduct of
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  doing all of those things really well.
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  Yeah. Absolutely. That definitely makes a lot of
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  sense. And I guess with that, is there
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  any risk
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  or investment worth making for this upcoming year,
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  that can kinda help with the adding growth
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  and adding value?
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  Yeah. It's a great question. I I think
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  for us, you know, our biggest investment
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  and and, honestly, our smartest risk is continuing
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  to double down on quality.
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  And so where that
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  transcends in our world is that it ultimately
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  means investing in our provider experience.
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  Therapists are ultimately the backbone of everything we
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  do at TABA. And when they're bogged down
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  with administrative work or or a very clunky
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  system, everyone feels that, including the clients that
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  they're trying to treat. And so every time
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  we simplify a workflow
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  or automate something that's a tedious task for
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  them and give them back an hour in
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  their week, we're actually investing in better outcomes.
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  If we could free up their time and
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  and allow them the flexibility to see clients
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  when they want to, It's gonna increase their
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  client satisfaction.
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  And then, ultimately, we're investing in our retention
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  and reputation with these therapists.
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  And so these are the kind of improvements
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  that pay off across every part of our
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  organization.
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  And then we're also thinking about investing more
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  in quality, not just in the flashiest ways
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  that you hear. You know? It's also a
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  thing that we wanna,
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  make sure is a force multiplier.
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  So if we get quality right, whether that's
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  clinical quality,
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  provider support, operational quality, operational quality,
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  everything downstream will improve. And so it's the
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  kind of investment that doesn't just help this
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  year, but it also builds the foundation for
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  the next five years. And, again, if if
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  a therapist has a great experience,
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  our clients are gonna have a wonderful experience,
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  and that ultimately is just gonna lead to
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  better outcomes for the system holistically.
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  Wonderful. Thank you so much for giving that
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  information. And, Adam, before I let you go,
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  the last thing I wanted to ask you
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  is, where do you see the best opportunities
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  for growth, I guess, in this field or
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  within your organization,
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  for the future?
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  Yeah. I think looking ahead,
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  I think our biggest opportunities come from the
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  relationships we've already started to build, you know,
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  whether that be with providers,
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  health plans, or employers. They're all key parts
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  of our ecosystem that we work in, and
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  there's still a lot of room to deepen
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  and expand those partnerships and relationships.
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  You know, there's a a large appetite among
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  health plans for solutions that drive measurable behavioral
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  health outcomes
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  while ultimately reducing the cost holistically to the
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  system.
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  And, you know, the same thing is is
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  true for employers. You know, they're trying to
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  support their people in a more meaningful way.
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  And then on the provider side, we have
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  a real opportunity and chance to create one
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  of the best environments in the industry for
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  clinicians to practice.
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  So all three of these areas for us
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  have growth potential if we continue to invest
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  in them the right way. And then at
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  the same time, you know, I I think
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  there's a large future for, you know, staying
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  committed to our fundamentals. You know? So things
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  that got us here, whether that be high
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  quality of care,
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  a strong provider support, you know, and ultimately
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  clean
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  and,
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  efficient operations.
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  Those are the exact things that will allow
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  us to scale sustainably.
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  You know? And there's always room for innovation.
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  But, again, that innovation sits on top of
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  this, you know, great foundation that we've built
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  on both quality and consistency.
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  And so if we stay focused on what
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  we could do best,
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  keep the raising the bar on quality, we're
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  ultimately going to be able to continue to
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  build that trust with our partners, our health
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  plans, and our employers,
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  and that growth will just absolutely follow for
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  us.
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  Perfect. Thank you so much for those final
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  thoughts. It's definitely been a very informative discussion.
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  So, again, I wanna thank you so much
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  for coming on Becker's HealthCare,
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  and I look forward to connecting with you
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  again soon.
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  Thanks so much, Mariah. I appreciate it.