Online therapy provider Talkspace tapped a former UnitedHealth Group medical executive and an Optum vice president to join the startup.
Neil Leibowitz, MD, previously a senior behavioral health medical director at UnitedHealth, will become Talkspace's first CMO. Deb Adler, who served as senior vice president of network strategy at Optum, will become Talkspace's senior vice president of network and quality.
Talkspace allows users to video chat therapists online weekly for $79, or message a mental health professional for $49. The online service recently reached 1 million users after launching five years ago, CEO Oren Frank told CNBC.
Mr. Frank said Talkspace sees tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and he hopes employer-based contracts will represent about half of the startup's revenue by the end of 2018. Dr. Leibowitz will help build out Talkspace's employer business, and will allow the startup's physicians to start prescribing drugs when necessary.