Community Behavioral Health

What Community Behavioral Health does

Community Behavioral Health (CBH) is a behavioral health managed care organization that administers mental health and substance use disorder services for Medicaid recipients in Philadelphia County. Operating as a division of the City of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS), CBH receives capitated premium payments from Pennsylvania Medicaid to manage a defined behavioral health benefit for the county's Medicaid-enrolled population. The organization contracts with an in-network provider community spanning hospitals, clinics, and individual practitioners, including partnerships with Einstein Medical Center, Pennsylvania Hospital, Temple University Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for crisis response services.

CBH's core technology surface consists of two portals built on the HealthTrio Connect platform, secured by Okta single sign-on: a Member Portal for coverage, eligibility, and claims self-service, and a Provider Portal launched in October 2024 offering authorization dashboards, eligibility verification, secure messaging, and document management. CMS-mandated FHIR-based APIs (Patient Access and Provider Directory) extend interoperability to third-party applications, while HSX participation enables regional health information exchange. Supporting tools include QuickBase for provider surveys, XEOHealth for claims adjudication, and IPSWITCH SFTP for batch file exchange.

CBH monetizes exclusively through government capitated contracts rather than commercial pricing. Its go-to-market is not sales-driven; rather, it relies on DBHIDS referral pathways, public health infrastructure, and member-facing crisis hotlines (988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, Philadelphia Crisis Line). Revenue concentration on a single municipal counterparty and the absence of private equity, venture capital, or acquisition history underscore CBH's character as a stable public-sector behavioral health administrator rather than a venture-stage or growth-equity asset.

Name

Community Behavioral Health

Legal name

Community Behavioral Health

Website

https://cbhphilly.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Community Behavioral Health is a Philadelphia-based Medicaid managed care organization that administers mental health and substance use disorder services for Medicaid recipients in Philadelphia County, operating as a division of the City of Philadelphia's DBHIDS.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medicaid Behavioral Health Managed Care

akta.pro primary industry

Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) & Public Behavioral Health Providers (HLAFACAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health Managed Care (Medicaid) / BH Carve-In-Carve-Out Plans (HLAEAEAE)

Keywords

• Behavioral health services
• Medicaid managed care
• Mental health treatment
• Substance use services
• Crisis response

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Medicaid Managed Care Premiums: CBH receives capitated premium payments from government Medicaid programs to manage behavioral health services (mental health and substance use) for enrolled Medicaid recipients in Philadelphia.
2. Healthcare Operations: Day-to-day operations funded through Medicaid managed care contracts, covering treatment, payment, and healthcare operations for members.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Behavioral Health (CBH) is Philadelphia's behavioral health managed care organization, administering Medicaid-covered mental health and substance use disorder services for the city's Medicaid population. CBH operates an in-network provider base, web-based member and provider portals, FHIR-compliant interoperability APIs, and a network of crisis response centers and hotlines, including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The organization is funded through capitated Medicaid premium payments and operates as a division of the City of Philadelphia's DBHIDS.

Product overview

Community Behavioral Health (CBH) operates as a behavioral health managed care organization for Philadelphia, providing a platform of interconnected services for Medicaid recipients. The core offerings include the CBH Member Portal and CBH Provider Portal (both built on the HealthTrio Connect platform), which provide web-based access to health plan information, claims, authorizations, and secure messaging. Crisis response services include adult and child/adolescent crisis centers plus the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988). CBH delivers mental health and substance abuse services through an in-network provider network, supported by training programs (DBT, CBT, trauma therapy) and tools including Okta SSO, QuickBase, and the CBH Claims Converter Application. The Family Navigator Program assists families in navigating behavioral health services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CBH Provider Portal A web-based technology solution providing the CBH Provider Network with information access and secure communication capabilities, including an authorizations dashboard, member eligibility verification, secure messaging for PHI, document manager, and direct links to CBH resources.
• CBH Member Portal A web-based portal for CBH members to access their health plan information, including coverage and eligibility status, claims data, and shared documents from CBH. Members aged 14 and older can register and use a preferred name for a personalized experience.
• Adult Crisis Response Centers Crisis response services for adults available 24/7 at multiple Philadelphia hospital locations including Einstein Medical Center, Friends Hospital, HUP Cedar Avenue, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Temple University Hospital Episcopal Campus.
• Child/Adolescent Crisis Response Centers Crisis response services for children and adolescents at Philadelphia Children's Crisis Response Center and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Behavioral Health and Crisis Center.
• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988) 24/7 crisis hotline available by dialing or texting 988, with chat option at healthymindsphilly.org. Free, confidential immediate help for mental health crises.
• Behavioral Health Services Mental health and substance abuse services for Medicaid recipients covered by CBH, including psychiatric rehabilitation services, targeted case management, and outpatient treatment.
• Provider Training and Education Educational programs for mental health professionals including evidence-based practice training (DBT, CBT, trauma therapy), compliance forums, and professional development webinars. BHTEN and EPIC serve as training co-sponsors.
• Family Navigator Program Program designed to guide families through the behavioral health system, helping navigate services and support for children and adolescents.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• HealthShare Exchange of Southeastern Pennsylvania (HSX)coreTechnology or IntegrationCBH participates with HSX, a secure health information organization network, enabling electronic sharing of member health information across the healthcare ecosystem for treatment, payment, and authorized purposes.
• HealthTrio (H30) by mPulsecoreTechnology or IntegrationHealthTrio is the contracted vendor providing the 'Connect' software for CBH's Member and Provider Portals, as well as supporting the Patient Access API and Provider Directory API.
• OktacoreTechnology or IntegrationOkta is the cloud-based Identity and Access Management (IAM) service providing single sign-on (SSO) access to CBH's provider technology solutions including the Provider Portal and other applications.
• DBHIDS (Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCBH is a division of DBHIDS, the City of Philadelphia's behavioral health authority, integrating CBH's Medicaid managed care operations with the city's public behavioral health infrastructure.
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHOP partners with CBH's Evidence-based Practice and Innovation Center (EPIC) to host the Medical Behavioral Diagnoses lunch-and-learn webinar series addressing complex medical-behavioral diagnoses.
• Behavioral Health Training and Education Network (BHTEN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBHTEN co-sponsors training workshops for CBH providers, providing CEUs and educational content on evidence-based practices including DBT, trauma therapy, and family systems approaches.
• Evidence-Based Practice and Innovation Center (EPIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPIC is CBH's internal center focused on advancing evidence-based behavioral health care in Medicaid settings through provider training, research collaboration, and implementation support.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• CareSource: Nonprofit Medicaid managed care plan serving Medicaid, Marketplace, and dual-eligible populations across multiple states. Comparable to CBH in its focus on government-sponsored populations and Medicaid plan administration, with significantly larger multi-state scale.
• Magellan Health: National managed behavioral health and specialty health plan serving Medicaid, commercial, and public-sector populations. Now part of Centene, Magellan operates BH carve-outs for multiple state Medicaid programs, making it a directly analogous MBHO at national scale compared to CBH's county-level carve-out.
• Optum Behavioral Health: Optum's behavioral health business manages MH/SUD benefits for Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial members nationally. Operates as part of UnitedHealth Group, providing integrated BH benefit administration and care management analogous to CBH's role but at massive national scale.
• Carelon Behavioral Health (formerly Beacon Health Options): Large, national managed behavioral health organization serving Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial populations across many states. Operates as part of Elevance Health's Carelon services platform, providing comparable MBHO benefit administration and care management at much larger national scale than CBH's single-county footprint.
• Cenpatico (Centene subsidiary): Centene's specialty behavioral health subsidiary providing Medicaid managed behavioral health services across multiple states. Highly comparable to CBH in operating model (Medicaid BH carve-out administration, provider network management, care management) but with multi-state, multi-million-member scale.

Direct peers

• PerformCare: Pennsylvania-based managed behavioral health organization that administers behavioral health services for Medicaid and CHIP populations in multiple PA counties. Direct regional peer to CBH given overlapping Pennsylvania geography and similar Medicaid BH carve-out operating model.
• AmeriHealth Caritas: Pennsylvania-headquartered Medicaid managed care organization serving physical and behavioral health needs for Medicaid recipients across multiple states, including PA. Directly comparable to CBH as a PA-based Medicaid plan, though broader in scope (physical + behavioral) and multi-state.
• New Directions Behavioral Health: Managed behavioral health organization providing behavioral health benefit administration, EAP, and care management for Medicaid, commercial, and public-sector populations across multiple states. Comparable to CBH in MBHO operating model, including carve-out-style BH administration.

Regional players

• Keystone First (Independence Blue Cross): Pennsylvania Medicaid managed care plan operated by Independence Blue Cross serving Medicaid recipients in southeastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia. Directly relevant peer operating in the same Philadelphia Medicaid market as CBH, though providing integrated physical+behavioral coverage rather than a BH-only carve-out.
• Health Partners Plans: Philadelphia-based Medicaid managed care plan serving Medicaid and CHIP recipients in southeastern Pennsylvania. Direct geographic peer to CBH operating in the same Philadelphia Medicaid market with an integrated physical+behavioral approach, offering a competitive contrast to CBH's BH-only carve-out model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCJqmE_v4MgTP-tRQLNfTqjA
• Facebookfacebook.com/CBHPhila
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-behavioral-health
• Instagraminstagram.com/cbhphilly

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Behavioral Health