Privia Medical Group — Georgia Accelerates Behavioral Health Access and Network Retention With Bamboo Bridge®

Privia Medical Group — Georgia Accelerates Behavioral Health Access and Network Retention With Bamboo Bridge®

The Challenge

Accessing timely and appropriate behavioral healthcare has long been a persistent challenge, particularly in Georgia, where patients face long wait times, complex care needs and fragmented systems of care.

28.3% of adults in Georgia report unmet mental health needs

275 days is the average wait time for a forensic bed

2.6x higher costs are incurred by Medicare patients with behavioral health conditions (excluding SMI)

As a result, patients experienced worsened behavioral health outcomes, increased avoidable emergency department utilization, disrupted continuity of care and strained patient-provider relationships. Simply referring patients out was no longer sustainable.

The Solution

In 2024, Privial Medical Group — Georgia (PMG Georgia) partnered with Bamboo Health and deployed Bamboo Bridge®, a tech-enabled care navigation suite, integrating real-time care navigation into clinical workflows to close care gaps, improve outcomes and retain care within their network.

Bamboo Bridge offers scalable care navigation that strengthens clinical teams without increasing staff or disrupting workflows. Coupled with curated, high-quality behavioral health provider networks, organizations are empowered to improve actual patient placement and care completion, beyond just workflow optimization. Our dedicated care navigators directly engage patients and connect them to appropriate care, helping healthcare organizations improve outcomes while maximizing existing resources.

How It Works

1. Referral Initiation

Providers use the Bamboo Easy Button EHR order set or ADT alerts to initiate referrals.

2. Rapid Engagement

Patients are contacted via phone or text within 48 hours (often same day).

3. Intake and Validated Assessment

Navigators use PHQ-9, GAS-7 and other screenings to assess patient needs.

4. Smart Scheduling

Patients are matched to an in-network PMG Georgia behavioral health provider first. If needed, Bamboo’s statewide network is used.

5. Appointment Support

Navigators need to send reminders, address barriers to care and confirm attendance.

6. Loop closure

Updates and care notes flow back to PCPs, closing the feedback loop and building trust.

1. Referral Initiation

Providers use the Bamboo Easy Button EHR order set or ADT alerts to initiate referrals.

2. Rapid Engagement

Patients are contacted via phone or text within 48 hours (often same day).

3. Intake and Validated Assessment

Navigators use PHQ-9, GAS-7 and other screenings to assess patient needs.

4. Smart Scheduling

Patients are matched to an in-network PMG Georgia behavioral health provider first. If needed, Bamboo’s statewide network is used.

5. Appointment Support

Navigators need to send reminders, address barriers to care and confirm attendance.

6. Loop closure

Updates and care notes flow back to PCPs, closing the feedback loop and building trust.

The Results

of people with validated screening assessments completed

of appointments scheduled

reduction in cost to manage inpatient patients per month

of patients attended appointments

of patients attended 3+ appointments

decrease in the average number of ED & inpatient visits for all patients

increase in behavioral health services retained in Privia’s network

This translates to faster care access, reduced avoidable utilization and more value within Privia’s network.

Without addressing mental health, we couldn’t manage chronic conditions effectively. That’s why our strategy had to evolve. With Bamboo Bridge, we reduced 80-day referral delays to just weeks—and saw a 5x increase in patients keeping their first appointment.

Ryan Graham Privia Medical Group – Georgia

Why Bamboo?

Bamboo Health has deep experience, proven infrastructure and the most powerful care collaboration network to power scalable behavioral health access.

  • Turnkey Implementation for Immediate Time to Value: Bamboo Bridge is a scalable, cost-effective solution that can be rapidly deployed with minimal operational lift. Designed to drive measurable results from day one, the model is tied to outcomes, accelerating ROI while minimizing execution risk.
  • Nationwide Reach: The country’s most powerful Real-Time Care Intelligencenetwork supports over one billion patient encounters annually across 52 states and territories, top hospitals and leading health plans.
  • Curated Networks by State: A proprietary approach to developing high-quality behavioral health networks results in better patient access and outcomes. In Georgia, over 35 types of behavioral health services are available across more than 250 physical locations, including national partners like LifeStance and Acadia.
  • Tech-Enabled, Human-First Navigation: Dedicated navigators augment internal teams without adding staff.
  • Proven Playbook: 10+ years of experience building and managing networks across geographies, payment types and populations.

The Bottom Line

In an environment where behavioral health patients represent both the highest risk and the most significant opportunity for value-based care success, the ability to achieve actual patient placement through real-time intervention is essential for improving clinical and financial outcomes.

Bamboo Bridge doesn’t just enable coordinated care; it closes the care loop by ensuring patients receive the right care at the right time through the right providers, creating sustainable financial performance in value-based arrangements.

About Privia Medical Group — Georgia

Privia Medical Group — Georgia manages dozens of location across the state of Georgia and is part of Privia Health™. Privia Health is one of the largest physician enablement companies in the United States with a presence in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Privia builds scaled provider networks with primary-care centric medical groups, risk-bearing entities, a physician-led governance structure, and the Privia Platform comprising an extensive suite of technology and service solutions. Privia collaborates with medical groups, health plans and health systems to optimize 1,300+ physician practices, improve the patient experience for 5.3+ million patients, and reward 5,100+ physicians and advanced practitioners for delivering high-value care.

About Bamboo Health

Bamboo Health empowers healthcare organizations to improve behavioral and physical health outcomes through the most powerful care collaboration network with Real-Time Care Intelligence. By providing real-time insights during pivotal care moments, clients are enabled to perform life-improving actions and deliver seamless, high-quality and cost-effective whole-person healthcare. From coast to coast, Bamboo Health partners with all major retail pharmacy chains, 52 states and territories, 100% of the top 10 best hospitals and more than half of the country’s largest health plans to improve more than 1 billion patient encounters annually.

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