UpLift is a behavioral health company that delivers in-network therapy and psychiatry that has acquired TAO Connect, a therapy-assisted mental health solution with digital tools and resources built for higher education institutions. Through the acquisition of TAO Connect, UpLift now offers services to over 170 enterprise customers nationwide and across Canada, covering over 4 million people, including over two million students at over 120 higher education institutions in the U.S.
UpLift’s spectrum of high quality care – ranging from preventative to treating severe mental illness – makes mental healthcare work for everyone across all conditions, geographies, and generations.
The challenges of accessing affordable behavioral healthcare is a major driver in America’s mental health crisis. And UpLift’s integrated behavioral health platform matches patients with the right team of providers based on clinical and non-clinical needs. And the platform delivers next-day, in-network therapy, and psychiatry through a network of nearly 2000 licensed providers.
TAO Connect was created to fulfill the unmet need for more accessible and better mental healthcare treatment options and solutions, including telehealth. While initially designed for higher ed, TAO Connect’s evidence-based digital tools and resources have proved extendable and valuable to other enterprises, such as large employers and health systems.
TAO by UpLift is rolling out and activating across higher education institutions across the country, including two- and four-year public and private schools, and spanning community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and graduate schools.
UpLift utilizes technology to enable a simple, personalized, equitable, and accessible student experience. Ranging from navigation to treatment, students gain 24/7 access to care, personalized provider recommendations and treatment, and a progress view through integrated measurement-based clinical assessments.
UpLift was founded in partnership with healthcare innovation company Redesign Health. And UpLift accepts insurance payments from most major commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid health plans, including through agreements with national carriers UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Cigna.
KEY QUOTES:
“We read about the crisis of care every day. College students are increasingly anxious, depressed, and struggling with loneliness and the pressure of academia, and institutions are proactively seeking ways to augment and complement their counseling services. With TAO, we are already on the ground with preventative, self-guided tools and resources and are now expanding our offerings to complement the counseling centers with therapy and psychiatry to care for students when, where, and how they need it. At the same time, we are able to leverage our insurance model to lower the cost to higher ed customers and remove the caps on care that are all too commonly placed by existing solutions.”
– Kyle Talcott, CEO and founder of UpLift
“Campus counseling services are improving and saving student’s lives every day. When I started TAO ten years ago, it was to bring more counseling services to higher ed. Our customer base has grown and diversified, and they have been asking for the addition of therapy and psychiatric services. I am thrilled that we can now extend our resources and services with access to UpLift’s integrated behavioral healthcare platform. Kyle and I overlapped for several years at the University of Florida where I started TAO, and we share the same mission – to make mental healthcare work for everyone.”
– Dr. Sherry Benton, founder of TAO Connect, Professor Emeritus, University of Florida
“TAO Connect is a powerful tool for campuses committed to becoming health-promoting institutions, impacting students’ lives every day. As is the case with TAO and UpLift, partnerships between organizations that offer care along the continuum – including access to therapy and psychiatry – are critically needed and I look forward to collaborating.”
– Peter Cornish, PhD, director of counseling and psychological services at UC Berkeley’s University Health Services and an Honorary Research Professor at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada
“UpLift’s acquisition of TAO Connect will go a long way to servicing the higher ed market’s unmet mental health needs, providing care continuity by adding team-based therapy and psychiatry. UpLift’s full end-to-end behavioral health platform combined with TAO’s resources and self-guided toolset offer a complete solution for students, wherever they are in their care journey.”
– Matt Rice, Partner at Ballast Point Ventures
