Talkspace Announces Varun Choudhary, MD, MA, DFAPA as Chief Medical Officer

Most recently at Magellan Health, Choudhary brings over 17 years of patient care experience to lead Talkspace’s clinical practice

Talkspace, the leading digital and virtual behavioral healthcare company, today announced the appointment of Varun Choudhary, MD, MA, DFAPA, as Chief Medical Officer.

Formerly Chief Medical Officer of behavioral health for Magellan Health, Dr. Choudhary joins Talkspace at a time of rapid growth for the company as more Americans seek mental health support on the platform. In Q1 2021 alone, Talkspace’s total active members grew more than 110 percent year-over-year to approximately 60,000 and over 55 million individuals have in network access to Talkspace. Dr. Choudhary will play a critical role in scaling the company’s clinical practice and network of approximately 3,000 psychotherapists and prescribers around the country.

As a Board-Certified Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr. Choudhary has worked in the behavioral health industry for over 17 years providing care to patients in the public sector, correctional arena, private practice, and community-based settings. He has a specialty in telepsychiatry, population health, collaborative care, quality metrics and autism/intellectual disabilities. Dr. Choudhary has also served as a consultant to the Virginia Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and is currently the Governor appointed Psychiatrist to the Behavioral Health & Disability Board for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is the current President of the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation, board member of the Psychiatric Society of Virginia & Medical Society of Virginia, Area 5 Assembly Representative for the American Psychiatric Association as well as a Distinguished Fellow.

“The world is waking up to an increased awareness and need for mental health and psychiatric support. I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Choudhary to Talkspace, and I look forward to working with him to improve access to therapy to those who need it,” said Roni Frank, Talkspace Co-Founder and Head of Clinical services.

“I am honored to join Talkspace at this critical time and to work alongside Talkspace’s diverse group of specialists to find innovative ways to provide and improve mental health support,” said Varun Choudhary, MD, MA, DFAPA, Chief Medical Officer of Talkspace. “I have long admired the work of Talkspace, optimizing technology to deliver quality care by licensed therapists. I am excited to advance the company’s mission to provide mental healthcare for all those in need.”

About Talkspace

Talkspace is a leading healthcare company enabled by a purpose-built technology platform. As a digital healthcare company, all care is delivered through an easy-to-use and fully encrypted web and mobile platform, consistent with HIPAA and other state regulatory requirements.

Today, the need for care feels more urgent than ever, and when seeking treatment, whether it's psychiatric, adolescent, or couples therapy, Talkspace offers treatment options for almost every need. With Talkspace, members can send their dedicated therapists text, video, and voice messages anytime, from anywhere, and engage in live video sessions. Over 2 million people have used Talkspace, and over 55 million lives were covered for Talkspace through insurance and employee assistance programs or other network behavioral health paid benefit programs.

For more information about Talkspace commercial relationships, visit https://business.talkspace.com. To learn more about online therapy, please visit https://www.talkspace.com/online-therapy.

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