Our team at Violet had the honor of attending the Behavioral Health Tech Conference, hosted by Solome Tibebu for the 3rd year in a row. This time, set in San Diego, we were able to meet with partner health plans, customers, government leaders and other tech innovators to discuss how we help organizations deliver person-centered care through better data, insights, and education.

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Behavioral Health Tech is the largest conference of its kind, with the opportunity to connect with all behavioral health stakeholders -- all eager to work together to increase accessibility, quality, and equity for everyone who needs mental health care, autism, and addictions treatment.  This year’s themes included Autism & Neurodiversity, community-based care, and public-private partnerships, along with the launch of BHT Impact, which focuses on accelerating youth-focused behavioral health innovators across the industry.

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In attendance was Violet’s founder & CEO Gaurang Choksi, our Head of Product Russ Taff, and our Head of Clinical & Research Dr. Kay Nikiforova. Below are their takeaways:

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Gaurang Choksi:

• The integration of behavioral health and primary care is still an ongoing discussion, with no clear, single solution. Different stakeholders across government, health plans, and partner organizations are working to understand how to best ease the fragmentation between behavioral health and physical health for their patients or community members. 
• The effects of HR1/OBBBA are starting to become evident, with more conversations around financial deficits across the health care system. This seems to be leading to health plans pulling back from investing in technology that isn’t critical to their business.
• Discussion about AI is becoming more nuanced, with a focus on understanding what other use cases there are for behavioral health. With last year having a solid focus on clinical note taking and ambient scribes, I’m increasingly hearing people share about using AI for serving as co-pilots for therapists and for clinical training.

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Russ Taff:

• As a newer member of the team and first time attendee, one of the things that felt so clear was the enthusiasm that people expressed for the work Violet has done over the years. Whether speaking to customers who have been with us for years, or newer partners, the desire to make care more responsive to who patients are, including their backgrounds, needs, and experiences, was still very present and top of mind.
• Even with the current financial situation in our health care system, there is still a lot of interest in clinical training and educational partnerships. There were discussions on how clinical education can impact quality of care, and help provider organizations better incorporate measurement informed care (MIC).
• There is a lot of AI activity in the following spaces: "intersessional" tooling for providers and members, and RCM workflows. Along with that, there seems to be a lot of competition for market share for these two areas. In the discussions I had, one thing was clear: AI integration with EHR, especially for clinical decision support, seems to be critical for successfully integrating into provider workflows.

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Dr. Kay Nikiforova

• Getting to moderate two panels, on seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum (one on AI, one on innovation in the safety net) further highlighted the importance of continuing to make sure that we’re building with culturally diverse communities and under-resourced communities in mind. At tech conferences, ideas can sometimes drift away from the socioeconomic realities many people face across the country, so it was encouraging to see that this remains a central focus.
• The need for public–private partnerships in behavioral health tech is not only still present but growing. As companies look for sustainable paths to profitability, partnerships with government agencies at the city, county, or state level can offer a viable way to scale their products.
• With the current policy landscape, and the influx of state-level legislation on technology and AI, it is critical for behavioral health startups to keep up to date on the regulations and legislation being passed. This is a space that still seems to be lacking, and some companies may end up negatively affected by their deficit in knowledge and planning around policy.

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Our team is looking forward to joining in Nashville, TN in 2026 and continuing the conversations about person-centered care!

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