Lahey Health and technology company Quartet Health have launched a partnership to boost behavioral healthcare delivery. Lahey, which provides care in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, will tap Quartet's technology-enabled model of mental healthcare to support better patient outcomes and lower costs.

"Lahey Health is committed to doing what is in the best interest of our patients, and we recognize that access to behavioral health care is a significant issue," said Patrick Aquino, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center.

"Quartet's innovative technology supports our goal to connect our physical and behavioral health providers and coordinate patient care, so that patients and their families can receive the quality-driven, cost-effective mental healthcare they deserve."

[Also: Steward ACO picks Patrick Kennedy-backed Quartet for behavioral health IT]

Quartet and Lahey Health will focus on creating pathways between the network's primary care providers and mental health providers, improving patient access to mental health resources, and analyzing patient and provider data, officials say.

The goal is to improve population health outcomes. Quartet estimates that proven collaborative care models have the potential to reduce total population costs by between $5 and $10 per member per month.

Lahey Health joins Steward Health Care Network, the second largest physician network in Massachusetts, in working with Quartet Health. Steward announced this past January that it would expand the work it had started with Quartet Health in 2015.

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