Our impact

Advancing digital mental health care that is safe, evidence-based, and accessible.

At the 2019 Banbury Forum, founding leaders identified three gaps for improving the field: access, reimbursement, and evidence standards. Today, SDMH continues to drive changes in these areas.

In numbers

What the SDMH community works on today, and the outcomes each has achieved to date.

4Special Interest Groups
5Annual Meetings since 2022
17Health systems and companies in the Implementation Playbook working group
72editions of the SDMH monthly newsletter

Reach

50+members joining local meetups across the U.S. this past year
300+attendees at the annual meeting
3,500+SDMH Implementation Playbook downloads
5,000+subscribed from research, care, industry & policy and growing!

The work, by what the field needs

What SDMH has produced with and for the field in response to each of the Banbury Forum's three practice recommendations.

Recommendation 1

Access and implementation

All people experiencing common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and PTSD should have access to evidence-based digital mental health services.
  1. Feb 2025

    The Implementation Playbook

    Implementations happen as private business deals, so what works rarely gets shared. Seven health systems and ten companies, with interviews from 20 implementation leaders, documented successful practices from stakeholder engagement through to de-implementation. Peer-reviewed in Frontiers in Digital Health.

    Read the Playbook (PDF)Frontiers Journal article
  2. Sept 2026

    Integrating Digital Therapeutics

    Founder, David Mohr, and President, Stephen Schueller, with first author Brandon M. Kitay of Emory University, describe barriers to adoption of digital therapeutics for mental illness in clinical practice, while highlighting opportunities for their development and population-based implementation.

    Read the Frontiers article
  3. Ongoing

    Health Equity Special Interest Group

    Centers the communities who most experience health disparities, but have been least included -- from the design and testing of digital mental health interventions, to engagement with payers and policymakers.

    About the SIG

Recommendation 2

Reimbursement pathways

Reimbursement mechanisms are required for broad implementation.
  1. Ongoing

    Reimbursement pathways

    SDMH works with the organizations developing reimbursement pathways through legislation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association.

  2. Nov 2025 Webinar

    Navigating CMS reimbursement for digital mental health

    Lisa Palko and Michael Shellhous of Nixon Law Group on the new Digital Mental Health Treatment billing codes, who qualifies, and what adoption will take.

    Watch
  3. Apr 2025

    Partnerships between care delivery and payer organizations

    Thomas Insel, Sam Nordberg and Georgia Hoyler on Precision Behavioral Health, a digital-first model that pairs patients with evidence-based interventions and targeted human support.

    Watch

Recommendation 3

Evidence standards

Evidence standards are needed to support decision making.
  1. Mar 2026

    Responsible integration of generative AI and large language models in mental health care

    Tests fifteen common beliefs about generative AI in mental health care against current evidence. Its central finding: conversational quality should never be used as a proxy for clinical reliability.

    Read the guidance (PDF)
  2. Nov 2025

    Testimony to the FDA Digital Health Advisory Committee

    President Stephen Schueller urged a risk-based framework for generative AI mental health devices, built on transparency, safety and clinical accountability. Board member Aubrey Shick called for human-centered transparency throughout user interfaces.

    Watch the testimony
  3. 2024

    Unlocking the Power of Digital Health

    Makes the case for digital therapeutics in a mental health emergency and names five priorities for equitable access, from designing around patients, caregivers and providers to collaboration across sectors. It points the field to where attention is needed rather than advocating for specific products.

    Read the white paper (PDF)

In their own words

From SDMH members

Mental health innovation demands cross-sector collaboration. SDMH unites academia, industry, and policy stakeholders to solve field challenges, creating opportunities for joint projects when members actively partner and leverage collective expertise.”Mental Health Policy Advocate, TX, member since 2024
Membership also provides direct opportunities to influence policy and standards. For example, I had the privilege of contributing to the ISO DTx Product Requirements working group, shaping the future regulatory landscape of products.”Clinical Research Professional, NYC, member since 2022

Work in the field?

Membership is free. Get the monthly newsletter and join a Special Interest Group.

Join for free

Want this work to continue?

SDMH is a small, largely volunteer-run nonprofit. Sponsors, foundations and donors keep it going.

Sponsor or Give