Description:

2021-2022 Digital Mental Health Lecture Series 
The Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITs)
Northwestern University, in collaboration with the Society for Digital Mental Health

Panel discussion: Francisca Azocar, PhD., Trina Histon, PhD., Julia Hoffman, PsyD. of Optum, Kaiser Permanente, Livongo

"Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Mental Health Implementation: Perspectives from Healthcare, Payers, and Industry"

Join us Tuesday, February 1st at: 
Noon to 1pm, Central Time

Register to attend our Zoom Webinar. 

About our guest speakers: 
 
Dr. Francisca Azocar is Vice President of Research and Evaluation at Optum Behavioral Health. Dr. Azocar has been at Optum for over 20 years. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and mental health services researcher. Dr. Azocar has extensive experience conducting federally-funded research with several academic institutions including Harvard, UCLA, UCSF, Tufts, Rand, and Brandeis among others, in partnership with employers, providers and health plans. Her research within Optum has influenced the development and use of patient-reported outcome measures and provider feedback reports, workplace depression, outreach and telephonic case management, healthcare policy research related to autism and mental health parity and most recently, comparative effectiveness of care pathways. Dr. Azocar has been responsible for the development of data-driven and clinically driven identification and stratification methods for behavioral case management and medical-behavioral integrated services at Optum Behavioral Health.  She is also responsible for vetting the clinical and research background of external vendors, including digital mental health apps to ensure fidelity to evidence-based practices, and demonstration of clinical and financial outcomes. Dr. Azocar received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from UC Berkeley, and a NIMH post-doctoral fellowship from the UCSF School of Medicine. Prior to Optum, she was a faculty member at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and one of the founders of the Division of Psychosocial Medicine. 
 
Trina Histon is a Senior Principal Consultant in Prevention, Wellness, and Digital Health at Kaiser Permanente's Care Management Institute. Trina obtained a Ph.D. in health psychology from University College Cork, Ireland. Trina has built an extensive career in addressing prevention, wellbeing, behavior change, and emotional health by translating evidence into practice in healthcare in Ireland and the USA. Trina has been working in the digital space since 2010. Trina is currently co-lead for Project Chamai (Greek for "grounded") deploying an ecosystem of digital mental health tools in Kaiser Permanente to support emotional wellness. Trina has been invited to act as an expert advisor for numerous organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Committee for Quality Assurance, National Quality Forum, Prescription for Physical Activity Task Force, STOP Obesity Alliance, The Digital Therapeutic Alliance, and the Obesity Society. Trina is a member of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, the American Psychological Association, The Obesity Society, NODE Health, and Digital Medicine Society. Trina enjoys bringing the evidence to life for front line teams and implementing technology solutions to support people on their journey towards health. 
 
Dr. Julia Hoffman is head of clinical strategy, mental health for Teladoc Health, a company empowering people everywhere to live their healthiest lives by transforming the healthcare experience. She was previously National Director of Mobile Health for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the largest integrated healthcare system in the country. Dr. Hoffman is a licensed clinical psychologist (CA) who attended Stanford University, completed a Psy.D. in clinical psychology at the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium, and a fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Hoffman has led the creation, evaluation, and broad international dissemination of numerous technology-based behavioral health tools. She founded and scaled mobile development for behavioral health at both the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and has been honored for these efforts by President Barack Obama, the US House of Representatives, the FCC, the American Telemedicine Association, and the American Psychological Association. A recognized thought leader at the intersection of digital and behavioral health, Modern Healthcare named Dr. Hoffman to the Top 25 Emerging Leaders program. 
 
 
Upcoming Talks  
March 1, 2022, 12-1 pm CT, Aaron Lyon, PhD 
April 5, 2022, 12-1 pm CT, Katie Shilton, PhD