from Hacker News

FTC: BetterHelp pushed people into handing over health information

by galoisscobi on 10/10/23, 3:40 PM with 5 comments

  • by eloisius on 10/10/23, 5:13 PM

    A couple of months ago someone was on here announcing their healthcare-but-not-healthcare startup for ADHD [1]. This is a great example of why not to trust these services. Relationship with your provider is extremely important when it comes to mental health services, and outsourcing that to a gig economy website is a horrible idea. Of course once they have a trove of personal information they’re going to be tempted to monetize it.

    1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37252231

  • by trilbyglens on 10/10/23, 5:22 PM

    I've used better help for quite a while and the therapists I've met there have been great. The platform however reeks of PE firm profit extraction. The webapp is janky, the video call tech is junk, the subscription options are barely passable. Doesn't surprise me at all that the bean counters have opted to further squeeze what that can from it.

    It's a great idea but this company is likely not worthy of your trust.

    PE firm product management is all about extraction.

  • by SoullessSilent on 10/11/23, 2:50 PM

    And I was considering this site just last night. Does any one knows if there is a connection between better help and Regain.us?

  • by nickthegreek on 10/10/23, 4:46 PM

    (March 3, 2023)