The Digital Clinic: An Innovative Mental Health Care Delivery Model Utilizing Hybrid Synchronous and Asynchronous Treatment

SummaryAs demand for mental health care rises, the limited supply of clinicians makes it difficult to meet the need for services. To increase supply, there must be innovation in both workforce capacity and digital solutions. But innovation must not come at the price of reduced quality of care because the need to balance access and quality requires more than offering self-help applications (apps) or coaching. Toward exploring one such solution, the authors describe the Digital Clinic, a model of hybrid synchronous and asynchronous mental health care led by a licensed clinician. (Although they developed a treatment manual to address mental health, the Digital Clinic care delivery model can be applied to other areas.) To increase access and quality, they integrated into treatment a smartphone application offering digital phenotyping and digital interventions, as well as a new care team member, the Digital Navigator, to collectively support engagement, digital equity, and clinic integration. In this Case Study, the authors outline the need, theory, and implementation of the Digital Clinic at a large academic medical center in the context of supporting referrals for depression and anxiety from primary care. Although the Digital Clinic — which began serving patients in January 2020 — continues to evolve, recent data suggest that rates of short-term remission achieved in 8 weeks are comparable to and greater than those in longer-term traditional treatment approaches.