Rachel Wood, PhD, Vice President of Learning Health Systems for Discovery Behavioral Health, is a licensed clinical psychologist in the behavioral health field for more than twenty years. She has provided direct service for children, adolescents and adults in various levels of care including outpatient, intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs, sub-acute residential and acute inpatient. During her time at Discovery, Rachel spent many years overseeing the Admissions and Payer Relations Departments where she implemented nationwide medical necessity level of care guidelines and drove Discovery’s national insurance contracting efforts. In her current position, Rachel’s focus is to leverage technology to gather evidence and develop predictive models to improve care, access, and outcomes.
Rachel’s current programs utilize asynchronous, patient-led platforms that increase the frequency and intensity of support following discharge and afford real-time intervention for at risk alumni. In March 2020, as Director of Alumni Services, Dr. Wood launched Discovery’s mobile support apps allowing alumni and families to remain connected to staff, obtain recovery resources and educational content, and offer and receive around the clock peer support following discharge. The app is an extension of the in-person alumni programs offered by Discovery to provide a supportive community that fosters long-term recovery. Rachel received her Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology and Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, San Francisco. She completed the International Scholars Program at Imperial College London, England. Her dissertation on the relationship between personality and scientific predilection and theory was presented at the International Conference for the Psychology of Science & Technology.