How GT Healthcare Distinguishes Overlapping Mental Health Symptoms
per day present with symptoms that overlap across conditions, and clinical interview and self-report alone cannot always separate what is driving them.
covering memory, concentration, reasoning, and verbal ability are measured objectively at intake and tracked across the course of treatment.
to a confirmed diagnosis and a treatment plan tailored to a patient's particular symptoms rather than to the diagnosis alone.
"What Creyos helps with most is helping me confirm what I think is going on and finding out if there's a possibility of something else causing the same symptoms. I can narrow down a diagnosis using measurements like scoring."
One practice for mental health and family medicine, delivered across California
GT Healthcare is a mental health and family medicine practice serving patients of all ages across California by telehealth. Gabrielle Thompson, FNP-C, a board-certified family nurse practitioner, founded it to bring psychiatry, therapy, primary care, and nutrition under one roof, so patients and their families get the range of care they need without being managed between unconnected offices.
The team sees 8 to 10 patients a day for depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, mood and bipolar disorders, insomnia, and more. Therapists deliver psychotherapy, a registered dietitian handles nutrition, and Gabrielle and a physician assistant provide psychiatric and primary care. GT Healthcare calls itself a data- and results-driven practice, and psychological testing is a standard part of reaching a diagnosis rather than an occasional add-on.
An objective evaluation of cognitive function, added to the clinical picture
Gabrielle went looking for a data-driven assessment she could put alongside the clinical interview, and Creyos met the requirements. Testing runs remotely, which suits a telehealth practice, and results come back immediately in a report she and the patient can read together.
The cognitive tasks measure memory, concentration, reasoning, and verbal ability against age-matched norms, and behavioral health questionnaires cover the symptom side. Rather than returning a single overall verdict, the report breaks performance down by area, which is what makes it useful when several conditions could explain the same presentation.
Cognitive results sit alongside the rest of what the practice collects. "As much data as I can have on somebody, tests, labs, all those kinds of things really help shape total care," Gabrielle says.
How the assessment moves through an interdisciplinary practice
Almost every patient who comes to GT Healthcare begins with an initial cognitive and mental health assessment that includes Creyos, which gives the team a baseline before treatment starts.
For patients who arrive through therapy, the pathway begins in a session where they describe their history and current difficulties. When those experiences suggest a diagnosable condition, the therapist refers the patient internally to Gabrielle, who reviews the therapist's notes and selects the assessments that fit. The patient completes them at home rather than in session, which is deliberate. "I want them to take it in an area that's distraction free, when they're well rested, so we can try to get the best results," Gabrielle says.
Because results generate immediately, Gabrielle reviews the report ahead of that visit and arrives with an initial read on the treatment plan. She and the patient then go through the report together, which turns the results into a conversation about that person's strengths and difficulties rather than a verdict delivered to them. Patients continue with their therapist, who now has the same objective data informing their work.
Reassessment happens as often as every 3 months. Repeat testing generates a trendline, so the team can adjust treatment against something other than how the patient felt on the day they were asked.
