Matria Healthcare, LLC, a subsidiary of Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc., announced today that it has launched its MaternaLink Postpartum Depression (PPD) Screening Program, a service to help identify new moms at risk for PPD. The program’s focus is to provide earlier clinical evaluation and support, better mental health and improved clinical and financial outcomes.
Matria will partner with health plans, Medicaid and employers to confidentially screen new moms. Matria’s trained staff will use a validated screening tool to assess a new mom’s potential risk factors for postpartum depression. Depending on the results, new moms are then referred to behavioral health providers for additional evaluation and treatment.
The new MaternaLink PPD program is an expansion of Matria’s Total Maternal-Newborn Solution (TMNS), which comprises services that cover the entire continuum of maternal-newborn care from risk screening, education and case management to home-based OB services and NeoLink, a comprehensive NICU case management program. All participants receive 24/7 access to highly-experienced OB and NICU trained nurses who work in tandem with patients’ physicians’ plans of care.
"As more health plans and employers begin offering Matria’s new PPD screening services to their members and employees, we look forward to the opportunity to positively impact the lives of moms suffering from this treatable but often ignored, medical condition," said Gary Stanziano, M.D., executive vice president of Matria Women’s and Children’s Health. Matria Healthcare is a leading provider of integrated comprehensive health enhancement programs to health plans, employers and government agencies.
Note: From the news release below I am unable to tell what type of screening tool they plan to use or exactly how the process works. It will be interesting to find out.
