Matt Milford: Transforming Mental Health Care

Matt Milford, Co-Founder & CEO, Foresight Mental Health

From the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology website

Matt Milford and Doug Hapeman dropped out of UC Berkeley with a vision to transform mental health care. Their venture, Foresight Mental Health, is a data-driven mental health care service that uses modern technology to deliver highly personalized, data-backed treatment plans to their patients.

Foresight is based in Berkeley and provides patients with a wide range of treatment and services to improve mental health and lifestyle. The company is composed of psychiatrists, therapists, neuropsychologists, software engineers, bioengineers, nutritionists and data scientists with a mission to revolutionize the industry.

Matt and Doug were frustrated with how mental healthcare operates in the U.S. They explained that 55% of psychiatrists don’t accept health insurance and in the Bay Area, the number is even higher. Comparatively, in the healthcare industry, less than 15% of providers do not accept insurance. They said that most options are very costly, often even hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket.

“We focus a lot on combating the stigma around mental health,” said Doug. “Traditionally, it’s been very stigmatized. With younger populations, people are starting to talk about it being more open, and we want to encourage and facilitate that openness and combat any remaining stigma.”

Foresight uses a personalized patient profile that analyzes vital information including one’s genetics, comprehensive symptoms, and brain-chemical balance estimates. Foresight combines that data with their patients’ mental health history, family history, and lifestyle to create a personalized patient portfolio.

Matt got an intimate look into entrepreneurship and innovation at the European Innovation Academy in Nice, France in the summer of 2016 through SCET’s summer abroad program. At EIA, Matt gained an early start in entrepreneurship and technology. His interests in entrepreneurship and innovation, coupled with his passion for mental healthcare, led him to co-found Foresight Mental Health with his friend and co-founder Doug.

Although Foresight works with all ages, its focus is on helping university-age students. They currently help hundreds of UC Berkeley students at one of their nearby locations.

To help modernize the mental health world, Foresight is reimagining the space where treatments are done. The clinics are calm and welcoming environments with music playing and a modern look.

In the coming months, Foresight plans to open more clinics and expand its technology to new areas of healthcare and wellness.

“We’re learning a lot here, in a totally new and different way than at Berkeley,” said Matt. “We’re set on our mission of reinventing mental healthcare through the use of technology to make people happier and healthier.”