Mental Healthcare Trends in California vs. Florida. vs. Texas vs. New York

Four incredible states. Four extremely different populations. M.Ad has had the pleasure of working extensively with mental healthcare providers in each of them over the past six years or so. We have made some interesting and important observations about the mental healthcare markets that we wanted to organize and share.

We have developed a metric which we’re calling the ‘Metal Health Awareness Score’. This score (1-10) speaks to the general knowledge of the population about the importance of mental healthcare and various treatment options available for indications like depression, anxiety, OCD and PTSD. A well-educated population will recieve a higher score, a population that still requires a lot of educational resources before understanding symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options will get a lower score. Populations that score higher, tend to convert more easily into new patients.

We have also included a comment on the saturation of the market in the form of a percentile. We’re assigning this metric based on the competitive environment we observed in the accounts we manage. This includes competitors bidding against our clients on search advertising engines, imitation of search engine optimization strategies in a competitive manner and our own research on behalf of clients who are trying to establish a strong presence in the market. Typically, it’s easier to open new practices in environments that are not over-saturated. However, there are instances where we’ve seen the launch of a new treatment option into a heavily saturated market met with success.

Please note the metrics and summaries below are entirely based on our own observations from the specific accounts we manage.

California: 

Our observations: 

– Seven accounts managed in the state to-date.

– Mental Health Awareness Score: 9.5

– Saturation of the market: 70%

Opportunities we see in the State:

– Mental healthcare is a hot topic in the state and the population seems accepting of new treatment modalities that are brought to market. We work with a number of mental healthcare professionals who offer IV Ketamine, Spravato, Esketamine, Rapid Dissolve Tablets and TMS and have large pools of potential patients to draw from. Furthermore, California has met the challenges of Covid-19 bravely. We see tremendous opportunity in the telehealthcare sector as most telehealth services are now covered by insurance. 

Florida

Our observations: 

– Five accounts managed in the state.

– Mental Health Awareness Score: 7

– Saturation of the market: 60%

Opportunities we see in the State:

– In the winter months Florida’s population swells significantly with a population of sun-seeking snowbirds who have mental healthcare needs. This population seems interested in advanced mental healthcare solutions but will require some educating prior to converting. In the summer, accounts can be quieter but the local populations provide enough interest to keep case loads busy. We have found Florida to be a responsive market for the launch of advanced treatments including ketamine, TMS and genetic testing.

Texas

Our observations: 

– Three accounts managed in the state.

– Mental Health Awareness Score: 4

– Saturation of the market: 40%

Opportunities we see in the State:

– We have worked with fewer mental healthcare providers in Texas than in the other states mentioned in this comparison. We view that as a slight indication of where the market is at. Five years ago or so we landed our first client in Texas and had to adjust to the amount of educational content needed to raise awareness both about the importance of mental healthcare and the variety of treatments available. We were also surprised at the marketing tools that were requeted by healthcare providers themselves. Where we typically manage digital properties, in Texas we found more requests for print marketing collateral and traditional media coming through. We also percieve a slight stigma in audiences in Texas with regards to seeking help for mental health, but we have seen noteworthy improvement over the past few years. This is particularly true with regareds to the adoption of advanced treatments like ketamine and TMS for treatment resistant depression.

New York

Our observations: 

– Five accounts managed in the state.

– Mental Health Awareness Score: 9

– Saturation of the market: 80%

Opportunities we see in the State:

Mental healthcare is booming in New York in exciting ways! While the market is competitive, and the population is educated about treatment options and eager to seek them out when needed, we percieve a level of innovation in this state that is unique to the others. The providers we work with in New York and particularly in NYC are always looking to stay ahead of the curve. They are less concerned with month-over-month trends and more interested in getting ahead of the innovations that will be popular next year. This type of hightened awaqreness makes these accounts dynamic, high-volume and exciting to manage. We also see the most international market awarness from accountsin New York. Ambitions in this state to see the best of mental healthcare available globally are unlike the corporate concerns we get to witness elsewhere in the country.