Bend Health Promotes Amit Parikh, MD, to Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Parikh will support continued development and expansion of Bend’s unique virtual pediatric behavioral health services

MADISON, Wis. (June 29, 2023) — Bend Health, Inc. (“Bend”), a leading national, virtual pediatric behavioral care provider, today announced the promotion of Amit Parikh, M.D., to chief medical officer (CMO) in support of its next phase of growth.

“As a physician leader, Amit is well-versed in identifying and implementing data-driven solutions that promote patient-centered care for children and teens,” said Kurt Roots, co-founder and chief executive officer, Bend Health. “His experience in clinical care and care operations will help us enhance our services and accelerate access to pediatric behavioral care for even more families in need.”

As CMO, Dr. Parikh will lead the development and scaling of the company’s unique pediatric digital behavioral health services. He will also continue to grow the care team and infrastructure needed for the widespread implementation of the pediatric collaborative care model (CoCM), further improving access to pediatric behavioral care. As Monika Roots, M.D. passes the CMO baton to Dr. Parikh, she will continue to lead Bend’s strategic vision, implementation, and oversight as co-founder and president.

“Providing access to high-quality pediatric behavioral healthcare to children and their families is an urgent and unmet healthcare need in our country,” said Dr. Parikh. “Bend’s virtual pediatric behavioral health platform helps those needing services gain access to behavioral health care quickly, and I am committed to extending this lifeline to more families. The current mental health crisis also affects providers, and we are actively addressing the drivers of burnout, fostering growth, streamlining tasks, and providing necessary resources for exceptional care.”

Prior to joining Bend, Dr. Parikh was a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Ventura County Medical Center, a sports psychiatrist at Mental Fitness Clinic, and associate psychiatric medical director at Healthright360. He received his M.D. from Northeast Ohio Medical University and completed his residency at The Ohio State University and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University, where he served as chief resident and chief fellow. 

Mental health diagnoses for children have increased exponentially, with one in four U.S. kids and teens having a diagnosed mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, leading to a demand for pediatric mental health care. The growing need and shortage of licensed care providers has created long wait times for appointments. Bend’s services accelerate access to care from six to 18 months to a few days. 

Peer-reviewed studies showed that Bend’s services improved symptoms of children and teens with ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Patients using Bend’s services for ADHD showed improvements in their ADHD symptoms, with 71% showing improvements in inattention symptoms, 60% in hyperactivity symptoms, and 60% in oppositional symptoms. Nearly 75% of patients using Bend services saw significantly decreased symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both between their first and last sessions. Bend is also working to reduce the effects of burnout facing healthcare practitioners by streamlining administrative tasks, and by ensuring Bend practitioners have the resources they need to deliver the best possible care.

Founded to help address the National State of Emergency in children’s mental health, Bend supports mental health from sub-acute issues such as stress, sibling rivalry, technology addiction, anxiety, and depression to severe mental illness, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma, and co-occurring substance use. Its collaborative care model combines virtual video visits, chat messaging, and integrated digital experiences to provide skills for kids, teens, and providers that support long-term mental health resilience and wellness. Care teams benefit from AI and novel technology that uses measurement-based care to track patient progress.

About Bend Health, Inc.

Bend Health, Inc., a national provider of pediatric mental health care services for children and families, is on a mission to improve access and reduce the cost of high-quality, expert mental health care. Bend is revolutionizing treatment through a novel, data-driven technology platform and evidence-based collaborative care model that enables the first scalable and integrated care solution in mental health. Through coaching, therapy, and faster access to evaluation and treatment by psychiatric experts, Bend achieves better outcomes utilizing measurement-based care and supports happier, healthier kids and families. Bend services are available through partnerships with leading insurers, employers, and health systems, and self-pay.