Ginger, the leader in on-demand behavioral health, announced today that Dr. Molly Coye has joined its board of directors.

Ginger provides companies and organizations with access to on-demand behavioral health support for their entire population. As the world’s most advanced behavioral health system, Ginger members’ care is coordinated across the highest-quality coaches, therapists, and psychiatrists. Ginger’s mobile-first, chat-based coaching experience gives members an on-demand way to get emotional support from an experienced coach in seconds — anytime, day or night.

“Dr. Coye’s vast experience with healthcare systems, policy and delivery will be crucial to achieving our vision: a world where mental health is never an obstacle,” said Russell Glass, chief executive officer at Ginger. “As Ginger continues to take on the challenge of providing people care, right when they need it, Dr. Coye’s expertise will be an invaluable asset to our team.”

Coye currently serves as Executive in Residence at AVIA, the nation’s leading network for health provider systems seeking to innovate and transform through the deployment of digital solutions. She was a member of the board of directors at Aetna, Inc. for 15 years, where she chaired the Medical Affairs Committee and was a member of the Executive Committee. Prior to that, she held a variety of leadership roles in both the public and private sectors, including Chief Innovation Officer at UCLA Health, Director of the California Department of Health Services, and Commissioner of Health for the State of New Jersey. Having advised global technology developers, investors, national health systems and policymakers, Coye brings to Ginger her extensive expertise at the nexus of healthcare and technology to improve the delivery and affordability of health services.

“My mother’s career as a social worker drove my passion for democratizing high-quality care,” Coye said. “Today, the need for emotional and mental health services has never been greater, and yet the industry struggles to meet that need. Ginger has created a transformative way of providing immediate, high-quality behavioral health support to people, right when they need it, and I’m excited to join their mission.”

Mental health conditions affect 1 in 5 people in the U.S.,¹ resulting in nearly $200 billion in lost earnings and productivity.² Yet access to care is an enormous hurdle: 111 million people in the U.S. live in areas with mental health professional shortages,³ and more than half of the counties in the U.S. have no mental health providers.⁴ Research from Willis Towers Watson indicates 88 percent of employers are prioritizing behavioral health programs—with over half focusing on the goal to improve access to care.⁴

Ginger has transformed how behavioral health care is accessed and delivered by using data and artificial intelligence (AI) to empower a virtual staff of highly-qualified emotional health coaches, therapists, and psychiatrists. Care is informed by insights generated from nearly 2 million clinical assessments and 45 million chat messages. Coaching is the backbone of Ginger’s virtual medical practice and provides people with support for day-to-day challenges, such as reaching personal goals and reducing stress. Within seconds of downloading the app, members are matched with a care team and can begin chatting with a coach at any time of day or night. If needed, coaches can escalate members to appointments with Ginger therapists or psychiatrists. Results from Ginger’s measurement-based, collaborative care model are promising: the average member rating per session is 4.6 out of 5 stars. Over the last 12 months, 72 percent of Ginger members surveyed reported clinically significant improvements in symptoms of depression within 12 weeks.

About Ginger

Ginger makes it easy for people to get the emotional and mental support they need, when they need it, by providing on-demand coaching, teletherapy, and telepsychiatry. Ginger is the only on-demand behavioral health system that continuously uses AI and machine learning to improve both access to and quality of care for anyone managing symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, or more complex challenges. The World Economic Forum has identified Ginger’s AI technology as a Technology Pioneer, and the company was recognized as one of the top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Healthcare by Fast Company. Hundreds of thousands of people have access to Ginger’s virtual coaches, therapists, and psychiatrists.

¹ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Mental Health Findings, accessed January 2019 from http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-FRR1-2014/NSDUH-FRR1-2014.pdf

² Health Affairs, Mental Disorders Top The List Of The Most Costly Conditions In The United States: $201 Billion, accessed August 2018 https://www.healthaffairs.org/action/doSearch?AllField=Mental+Disorders+Top+The+List+Of+The+Most+Costly+Conditions

³ US Department of Health and Human Services, accessed January 2019

⁴ Employers focus on improving quality and access for behavioral health services, Willis Towers Watson, Accessed: October 2018 https://www.willistowerswatson.com/en-US/insights/2017/04/infographic-employers-focus-on-improving-quality-and-access-for-behavioral-health-services