Mentavi to present ZIP-code analysis of online mental health evaluations at NEI Fall Congress

Mentavi Health will present a 50,642-evaluation analysis at the 2026 NEI Fall Congress in Colorado Springs, showing that online behavioral health evaluations are reaching ZIP codes with no listed psychiatrists. The poster highlights a potential access gap and the role asynchronous diagnostic evaluations may play in areas with few local mental health providers.

Why it matters: - Mentavi’s analysis points to a real access problem in behavioral health care: online diagnostic evaluations are reaching places where local psychiatrists are not listed. - The finding matters for clinicians because it shows where patients may be entering the care pathway before they can find in-person psychiatric care. - The poster also frames asynchronous evaluation as a way to extend access without requiring a scheduled real-time appointment or high-speed broadband connection.

What happened: - Mentavi Health will present a descriptive analysis at the 2026 NEI Fall Congress Scientific Poster Session in Colorado Springs, Colorado. - The poster is titled "Asynchronous Behavioral Health Diagnostic Evaluations Reach Psychiatric-Shortage ZIP Codes: A Descriptive Analysis of 50,642 Evaluations Against National Provider Supply." - The presentation is scheduled for Saturday, November 7, from 2:40–3:40 p.m. MT in the Rocky Mountain Ballroom at The Broadmoor. - The analysis matches online, self-administered behavioral health evaluations against psychiatrist listings in the federal National Plan and Provider Enumeration System registry by ZIP code. - The cohort included 50,642 evaluations completed on or after January 30, 2025 under current data-use consent. - Of those, 50,632 had a valid ZIP code. - The dataset covered adults 18 and older across all conditions assessed.

The details: - Of 49,203 evaluations completed in ZIP codes with at least one listed behavioral health provider, 16,033 evaluations came from ZIP codes with no listed psychiatrist. - Those psychiatric-desert ZIP codes made up 46.9% of all provider-served ZIP codes in the analysis. - The analysis covered 863 three-digit ZIP areas across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. - ZIP codes with no listed psychiatrist were classified as psychiatric deserts for this analysis. - The authors excluded 1,429 evaluations from ZIP codes where the registry listed no behavioral health provider of any kind, treating those cases as likely registry or geocoding errors rather than true deserts. - The base used for the one-third figure was 49,203 evaluations. - The poster references federal data showing that about 137 million Americans, or 40% of the U.S. population, live in a federally designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Area. - The poster also cites SAMHSA data showing that of 61.5 million U.S. adults with any mental illness in 2024, nearly half, or about 29.5 million people, did not receive mental health treatment in the past year. - Mentavi says its Mental Health Diagnostic Evaluation is clinically validated to support the diagnosis of ADHD in adults and was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. - Evaluations are reviewed by a doctorate-level licensed psychologist in the patient’s state. - Treatment, when warranted by diagnosis, is available to adults 18 and older in most U.S. states. - Mentavi says the diagnostic evaluation has also been used to support assessment of anxiety and depression.

Between the lines: - The analysis does not just measure provider shortages; it measures where digital evaluations are actually landing. - That makes the finding more operational than abstract, because it links service delivery to provider scarcity at the ZIP-code level. - The company is also signaling a broader strategy: use the same validation approach first established for ADHD to expand into anxiety and depression. - Mentavi’s framing suggests the diagnostic step can function as a bridge to care even when local psychiatrist supply is thin.

What's next: - The abstract will be available in the NEI Virtual Poster Library at More information. - The poster will be on display in the Rocky Mountain Ballroom starting Friday, November 6. - Ripper-Lewis will be at the board during the Scientific Poster Session on Saturday, November 7. - Attendees can review the figures and discuss the methodology during the session. - Mentavi says treatment availability varies by service, state and clinician capacity. - The company says it is applying the same validation approach to anxiety and depression.

The bottom line: - Mentavi’s poster argues that asynchronous behavioral health diagnostics are reaching parts of the country where psychiatrist access is scarce or absent, and that the model may help close a practical gap between need and treatment.