Lysn ups stakes with online psych consultation platform

A new start-up has entered the telehealth arena with the launch of Lysn, a WebRTC-based platform providing video consults to consumers from a bank of qualified psychologists.

Initially founded by Australian doctor Jonathan King in 2016, Lysn now has over 100 clinical and general psychologists on board since its full launch last November and is currently facilitating about 35 consults a week at a fee of $69.50 for 25 minutes or $139 for 50 minutes.

The next big step is to work out a solution to enable patients to claim the Medicare Better Access rebate, which provides GP-referred patients living in small towns in rural and remote areas with Medicare-funded mental health consultations by telehealth.

Dr King said access to mental healthcare can be one of the biggest barriers Australians in remote areas face when it comes to improving their mental health.

“By providing easier and confidential access to a range of psychologists through our online platform, confidential appointments can be accessible from home and with affordable fees, meaning it’s just a matter of booking an appointment and patients can feel at ease knowing they’re taking the right steps towards a positive outlook,” he said.

As the service runs on WebRTC, patients and practitioners only need access to an internet-enabled computer or tablet and a web camera. WebRTC works on the Chrome and Firefox browsers and only needs a plug-in such as OpenTok for Internet Explorer.

The company is currently also working on Android and iOS apps, although the Safari web and mobile browsers are not yet supported.

Dr King said the company ran a pilot with 10 psychologists in mid-2017 to make sure it all ran smoothly and was user-friendly, and in November rolled it out to a further 100 practitioners who are currently seeing clients regularly.

“We currently have around 125 fully qualified psychologists that are registered and we anticipate this to grow by the end of 2018, with another 200 to join,” he said.

“At this point in time, we’re consistently seeing a minimum of 35 clients a week, with many clients booking regular repeat appointments. This has all been organic growth through word of mouth thus far, however once we implement our marketing strategy and build the awareness around our available services we expect user numbers to continue to grow.”

Lysn stores clinical notes for each individual psychologist in AWS cloud services based in Sydney, so data is kept onshore. The technology is also compliant with HIPAA, the US health information privacy regulations.

While private health insurers do cover psychology evaluations Dr King is confident there are enough clients able to pay the full fee. However, to fulfil the desire to help people in rural and remote areas, the company needs to find a workable solution to the Better Access rebate.

For people living in areas 4 to 7, do they need to get a referral from their GP to claim the Better Access Medicare rebate? If so, how much of the Lysn fee is covered by the rebate?

“This is one of the biggest challenges that Lysn is facing,” Dr King said. “Lysn does not currently offer a Medicare rebate, even though we have the ability to do so, due to the complex nature of the the Better Access Medicare scheme process where the client has to see the psychologist face to face for the initial assessment. However, we are currently working towards a solution.”

The company is also in discussions with online directory and appointment booking service HealthEngine to see how the two can work together.