In a major step forward for digital mental health care, Austin-based startup Legion Health has successfully raised a $6.3 million seed round to support its strategic pivot from a digital marketplace for mental health operations to an AI-powered digital psychiatry practice. Founded initially with the goal of helping healthcare organizations scale their clinical mental health services, Legion Health is now focused on delivering a streamlined and more effective psychiatry experience through the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) at every stage of its operations.
A Shift to AI-Native Psychiatry
Legion Health’s transformation into an AI-native psychiatry practice is driven by the company’s founder and CEO, Yash Patel. Speaking with Behavioral Health Business, Patel shared how his team is working to embed artificial intelligence deeply into every facet of the business, enhancing its operations while keeping provider and patient experiences at the forefront.
“We deeply understood the provider experience,” Patel explained. “Mental health providers are burned out by the current options, and they have to make trade-offs that are undesirable for them.” This understanding formed the foundation for Legion Health’s shift to digital psychiatry, aiming to address key issues providers face in their day-to-day work while simultaneously improving outcomes for patients.
The Provider and Patient Experience
Patel’s insight into the struggles faced by mental health professionals comes from the company’s earlier focus on helping healthcare organizations scale their operations. He identified a number of areas where the mental health industry, especially outpatient psychiatry, is plagued by inefficiencies that ultimately impact both providers and patients.
From the provider’s perspective, Legion Health aims to create an environment where professionals are fairly compensated, enjoy flexibility over their schedules, and are no longer burdened by time-consuming administrative duties. “The ideal world for providers is one where they are paid well, control their schedule, don’t have to handle back-office functions, and are enabled to provide ethical, high-quality care,” Patel said. The company’s goal is to alleviate the stress that providers face, which ultimately affects their ability to deliver the level of care they would like to.
On the patient side, Legion Health aims to address the frustrations that come with delays in care, inconsistent insurance coverage, and poor communication between patients and providers. Patel points out that these issues have contributed to a negative patient experience across the mental health landscape, especially in outpatient psychiatry. Through the application of AI in mental health, Legion Health is working to make these processes more efficient and transparent, creating a better overall experience for patients.
“All those problems point to a growing and still very large problem in the outpatient psychiatry space that we had the expertise around to really create a model that would be attractive for providers,” Patel explained. By focusing on these challenges, Legion Health is positioning itself to make a meaningful impact in improving the mental health industry.
Backing from Strong Investors
The $6.3 million raised in this latest seed round will allow Legion Health to continue its expansion and development of AI in mental health tools. Notably, this funding round did not have a single lead investor but attracted support from several respected institutional investors. These include Alumni Ventures, Y Combinator, Acequia Capital, and Soma Capital. The company also secured support from angel investors who are already prominent in the digital behavioral health space, such as Dr. Ravi Shah (former chief medical officer at Geode Health), Erica Johnson (co-founder at Modern Health), and Jay Desai (founder and former CEO at PatientPing).
This seed round follows a previous $2 million raise, and the influx of new capital will be crucial in accelerating Legion Health’s AI in mental health technology development and expanding its digital psychiatry practice. With strong backing from investors who are well-versed in digital health, the company is well-positioned to continue refining its services and delivering on its promise to improve mental health care for both providers and patients.
AI at the Heart of Legion Health’s Solution
At the core of Legion Health’s innovative model are large language models (LLMs) and AI in mental health systems that analyze and process vast amounts of data to automate administrative tasks, improve clinical decision-making, and ensure the most efficient use of provider time. According to Patel, these AI in mental health systems can read and interpret any piece of information a human clinician would typically use, such as patient intake forms, chart notes, and patient communications. This technology allows Legion Health to take on complex, often time-consuming tasks that would otherwise be done manually.
One of the most significant challenges that AI in mental health can help address is scheduling. According to Patel, scheduling is a “notoriously difficult, hairy problem” in mental health care, where delays in scheduling can have negative impacts on clinical outcomes. Legion Health’s AI in mental health system is designed to solve this issue by analyzing patients’ previous appointment histories and preferred scheduling times. Using this information, the AI in mental health system can recommend the best time for patients to schedule their next appointment. This recommendation system is linked with another AI tool that automatically books the appointment on behalf of the patient, reducing administrative burdens and improving scheduling efficiency.
Furthermore, Legion Health’s AI in mental health system is designed to risk-score patients by analyzing their intake documentation and communications. This risk-scoring mechanism helps identify patients who may require more urgent care or have the most complex needs, prioritizing them accordingly. By using AI in mental health to identify high-risk patients in real-time, Legion Health is able to provide more personalized and timely care, an advantage that traditional methods of chart review and patient tracking can often miss.
Payer Partnerships and Expanding Access
Another key aspect of Legion Health’s strategy is its focus on collaborating with payers to ensure that patients have access to high-quality care, regardless of their insurance coverage. Currently, Legion Health is in-network for 99% of patients in Texas who have commercial or ACA exchange individual health plans. This high level of network coverage ensures that a large portion of the population can access the company’s digital psychiatry services.
Looking ahead, Legion Health aims to expand its payer partnerships to include major government programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and TRICARE. By working with a broad range of payers, the company hopes to further expand its reach and improve access to mental health care for a wider variety of patients.
Patel also pointed out that Legion Health takes self-referrals and partners with other organizations that have a stake in managing people’s health. This enables the company to serve a diverse patient base, including individuals who may not be able to access care through traditional healthcare systems.
“The AI in mental health is not just a cool thing to do; it’s meaningfully creating a margin profile for the business to allow us to treat populations that haven’t been treated before and to ensure high-quality care at scale,” said Patel. This AI-driven approach to improving care delivery at scale is central to the company’s mission and business model.
The Future of Digital Psychiatry
As Legion Health continues to innovate and expand its services, the company is poised to play a major role in shaping the future of digital psychiatry. By embedding artificial intelligence into core operational processes, Legion Health is not only improving efficiency but also creating a more sustainable model of care that can be scaled to meet the growing demand for mental health services.
The company’s ability to improve provider well-being, streamline administrative tasks, and ensure timely, high-quality care for patients positions Legion Health as a major player in the digital mental health space. As the company continues to build on its AI in mental health platform and expand its partnerships with payers, there is significant potential for it to address some of the most pressing challenges in the mental health care industry.
With a strong foundation of investment, a visionary approach to care, and an unwavering commitment to improving the mental health system, Legion Health is on track to revolutionize the way mental health services are delivered. As the company grows, its AI in mental health model holds the potential to transform mental health care delivery on a global scale, making it more accessible, efficient, and effective for all.
