Transforming Mental Health Care in Skilled Nursing

Entrepreneurial Insights from a Market Disruptor

Market disrupters are drastically changing the healthcare industry, creating more accessible solutions and lucrative business models by addressing unmet needs with innovative solutions and scalable business models. Psych360 was one of the early disruptors to transform access to mental health care in long-term care facilities.

According to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, 65-90% of nursing home residents have a mental health disorder, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Research also shows mental wellness impacts physical health and vice versa, creating a vicious cycle for aging adults.

In a recent podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rocco Coniglio, a highly trained sales executive and Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Psych360. Psych360 is an ARPN group providing comprehensive on-site mental, behavioral, and psychiatric healthcare solutions to underserved communities in long-term care facilities (e.g., assisted living, skilled nursing, and group homes).

During the podcast, we discuss how he and his wife, Nicole Coniglio, Founder and President of Psych360 and board-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, innovated a disruptive, cost-effective care model focused on building a large network of advanced practice nurses specializing in psychiatry in the Midwest.

During their eight-year tenure as founding members of Psych360, they scaled the organization from a two-person startup to an $8 million enterprise operating across 550 service locations providing +140,000 patient visits per year.

Keep reading to find out how they recognized the need and the steps—and risks—they took to fill the gap with much-needed psychiatric care in assisted living.

Identifying the Opportunity

During her time as an acute care nurse in a long-term care setting, Nicole noticed there were very few dedicated mental health specialists available to this aging population—from there, a business idea took hold.

"We saw that a significant portion of nursing home residents had untreated mental health conditions," Rocco explained. "This was our opportunity to provide specialized psychiatric care in an area where it was desperately needed."

Below, Rocco shares invaluable insights about how he and his wife took a business idea from concept to reality and embraced the lessons along the way to build a viable business model that was not only successful but filled a void within the elderly care community.

Listen to the podcast:

In case you don’t have time to listen to the entire podcast , here’s a summary:

Taking a Business Idea from Concept to Reality

I heard this metaphor many years ago, and I think it’s relevant to the Coniglio’s and their venture, Psych360: ‘When you start a journey, you can’t wait for all of the lights to turn green.’

When Rocco and Nicole made the decision to pursue their business idea, they took measured steps to achieve their goals. However, the journey was not without its challenges.

“We didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Rocco said. “We knew our model was scalable because we had seen it in practice, but we also understood there would be plenty of obstacles to overcome along the way. We started small, worked hard, and approached the venture as a source of additional income at first. Then, as we began to see the fruits of our labor, we took small, consistent steps toward our larger vision for the business.”

Rocco and Nicole recognized an unmet need in the skilled nursing space and took calculated risks to meet these needs and achieve their vision. Thanks to his extensive sales and business experience working for esteemed healthcare companies such as McKesson, Gambro, Medtronic, and Phillips Healthcare, he was able to research the potential opportunity, substantiate the need, and develop a business plan for a scalable platform.

Combining Passion and Drive to Achieve Entrepreneurial Success

Next, we explored how Rocco and Nicole’s entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity were essential ingredients in building the Psych360 brand—and ensuring its success.

“We were both at the point of our careers where we wanted bigger challenges. Climbing the corporate ladder was no longer an exciting prospect for us. We wanted to put effort into something we had a personal stake in—something we owned.”

And that’s what entrepreneurship provides. Like Rocco, I took an entrepreneurial leap of faith in healthcare marketing. I’ve also been through the paces and understand the importance of embracing flexibility, tenacity, perseverance, and determination.

Rocco continued, “When you’re starting a business from the first-yard line with zero revenue, you’ve got to think fast on your feet and wear a lot of different hats—from human resources, talent acquisition, and general administrative tasks to management, finance, fundraising, and sales. You’ve got to know when to seek guidance from advisors and other resources to make informed decisions and continue growing your business.”

Tips for Building a New or Disruptive Business

When building a new or disruptive business, there are several factors to consider, such as:

• Understanding the industry you want to enter or disrupt.
• Identifying the industry’s pain points, unmet needs, frustrations, or inefficiencies.
• Building a unique value proposition (e.g., through technology, service, price, or a combination of these) that improves the current situation.
• Knowing when to adapt and pivot your strategy to maintain your competitive edge.

However, no amount of preparation can genuinely train you for life as an entrepreneur.

Rocco articulates, “You must get comfortable with risks and do your best to navigate whatever challenges come your way. No one expected a global pandemic to disrupt our lives in 2020, but it did. No one could have prepared for that. Nicole and I could have just sat back and ‘sheltered in place,’ but we didn’t. Instead, we doubled down and went the extra mile for something we believed in and felt passionate about.”

He continued, “We reached out to everyone we could and learned everything we could to continue building the business within the new regulatory guidelines. You never know what you’re truly up against, but you’ve got to be willing to do what it takes to make it work.”

In the words of Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, “I believe starting a company is like jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down—your willingness to jump is your most valuable asset.”

And jump the Coniglio’s did, which resulted in an eight million dollar business that surpassed all growth and revenue forecasts, solidifying Psych360’s reputation as a leader in psychiatric care within the Midwest region. This remarkable success led to its acquisition by MindCare Solutions Group, a leading provider of behavioral health hospitals, emergency departments, outpatient clinics, long-term care communities, and correctional facilities. Rocco and Nicole held President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) titles, respectively, during the post-acquisition transition to help usher in the next chapter of success.

I want to thank Rocco again for sharing his time, experience, and expertise with us. I look forward to seeing what this entrepreneurial duo does next.

I hope this summary has provided you with new and valuable insights into how disruptors enter the healthcare market. If you’d like to stay up to date on Psych360 (now MindCare), I encourage you to visit their website.

For a more in-depth look at how Rocco and Nicole brought Psych360 from concept to reality, I highly recommend listening to our podcast in its entirety.

If you need help with your healthcare marketing or optimization strategies, please contact us.