BIRMINGHAM, Ala. & NEW ORLEANS– Pathway Healthcare, a leading provider of behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment across the southeastern United States, and Watershed Health, a care coordination technology company, today announced a strategic partnership to create a scalable, replicable triage model designed to ease transitions for patients after hospitalization or emergency services.
The initiative, backed by a major U.S. health plan, addresses one of the weakest points in the care continuum: moving patients in behavioral health crises from acute care into the right next level of treatment. Options may include outpatient services, one-on-one therapy, group care, or residential programs. Historically, such transitions have been fragmented, complex, and lacking best practice standards.
By leveraging Watershed’s real-time coordination platform, Pathway will serve as a preferred outpatient behavioral network for post-hospitalization patients. The model uses a metrics-driven triage workflow aimed at supporting value-based care programs and improving quality measure performance, including Medicare STAR Ratings and Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) benchmarks. Timely follow-up care post-discharge—such as closing the 7-day HEDIS metric—can prevent costly readmissions while improving patient outcomes.
“Behavioral health has operated in deep information silos without the real-time insights and coordination needed to meet patients’ needs at their most critical moments, such as in transitions after a crisis,” said Lindsay Lane, vice president of development at Pathway Healthcare. “With Watershed Health, we are building a bridge between care teams and the health plan—empowering people to act swiftly and ensure that high-risk behavioral health patients receive timely, appropriate treatment that surpasses what has been possible before.”
Effie Carlson, CEO of Watershed Health, added: “Watershed focuses on transitions to allow for coordinated care to exist regardless of who you are, what you need, and where you are going, and a core component is mental health. We are excited to be enabling a true integrative care model by not just sharing insights, but by activating them to aid in some of people’s hardest moments.”
Pathway Healthcare currently operates in six states, offering integrated behavioral health and substance use treatment services in collaboration with primary care providers, courts, and community organizations. Watershed Health provides HIPAA-compliant coordination and referral tools that connect hospitals, providers, and other stakeholders with automated document sharing, collaboration features, and seamless care planning.
