Confidential therapy for the surgeons on a hospital system's medical staff.
Surgeons carry irreversible work, the aftermath of every complication, and a credentialing file that makes them wary of any help routed through the institution, and most will not take any of it to a standard employee assistance program. CEREVITY gives a hospital system a confidential, private-pay clinical benefit for its surgeons, matched by hand and delivered so that nothing routes through the system health plan.
What CEREVITY is.
A nationwide network of independent licensed clinicians, offered as a confidential benefit for a system's surgeons.
CEREVITY is a nationwide network of independent licensed clinicians providing private-pay therapy by secure telehealth across all 50 states. It is not an app, not a coaching marketplace, and not an employee assistance program. Each surgeon is matched by hand to a clinician who understands high-responsibility, high-precision work, and keeps that clinician over time.
For the system, the model is simple to reason about. Care is private-pay with no insurance claim filed, so nothing routes through the system health plan and no claim record is created. The benefit sits above any existing EAP and physician-wellness program rather than replacing them, aimed at the surgeons whose steadiness and retention most directly shape the medical staff.
CEREVITY runs the same structure for other clinical settings, from group models like the one for California surgical groups to hospital-wide programs for the broader medical staff. The surgeon version is aimed at the clinicians a system can least afford to lose.Why surgeons on the medical staff are different.
The pressure on a hospital surgeon is not the same pressure, and the standard benefit was not built for it.
A surgeon performs irreversible work under real-time scrutiny, carries the outcomes home, and does it inside an institution that also credentials and reviews them. Independent reporting finds that physicians burn out at markedly higher rates than other workers, and the surgical medical staff sits at the sharp end of that.
The care they receive should come from someone who understands the operating room. Our clinicians experienced in surgical mental health speak the language of the OR rather than translating it.
surgeons reported suicidal ideation in the past year, closely tied to burnout and a recent medical error. Source: Shanafelt et al., Archives of Surgery, 2011.
The stakes are not abstract. Published research ties surgeon distress directly to burnout and to recent medical error, and burnout in this population is not simple fatigue; it is a loss of meaning and detachment, which is why physician burnout is more than exhaustion.
A generic EAP, designed for high-volume short-term employee support, is structurally mismatched to this population. Surgeons rarely use it, both because the format does not fit the problem and because they will not route something this sensitive through a channel the institution administers. Our note on confidential support for busy physicians sets out what actually reaches them. The need goes unmet quietly, which is the most expensive way for it to go unmet.
What surgeons actually bring to the work.
The presenting issues behind the composure, in the language of the medical staff.
The second victim
A complication or a loss on the table leaves a mark that the next case ignores, and the institution rarely makes room for it. The pattern has a name, described in second victim syndrome in healthcare.
The moral weight
Holding responsibility for outcomes that cannot be undone asks surgeons to carry more than the operative note records. Over time it can edge toward moral injury in clinical work.
Fine on the surface
Many surgeons keep operating while quietly unwell, which is exactly what makes it dangerous in a specialty this unforgiving. This is the territory of high-functioning depression in physicians.
Last to ask for help
The training that produces a reliable surgeon also produces one who will not admit to struggling. That reluctance is measurable, and it is part of why physicians are the worst at asking for help.
Credentialing fear
Worry that seeking care could surface in credentialing or privileging keeps many surgeons from starting. The reality is narrower than the fear, as our note on therapy and board scrutiny explains.
Under review
A peer review or an investigation can shadow a surgeon long after it resolves. Preparing for and recovering from that scrutiny is its own work, the subject of what physicians should know about board reviews.
The mind that will not stop
Long cases and call leave the body tired and the mind still running. Sleep is often the first thing to go, the subject of our work on chronic insomnia in surgeons and high-acuity physicians.
It follows them home
The hours and the mental load do not stop at the hospital door. Marriages and families carry the overflow, which is why we offer couples therapy for physician marriages.
The system credentials the surgeon and reviews the surgeon. Almost nothing in it is built to care for the surgeon.
Session formats built for clinical calendars.
Three lengths, no rigid weekly slot.
The steady cadence of ongoing therapy. Most clients spend most of their care in 50-minute sessions.
For work that needs more room than a standard hour can hold. See 90-minute sessions.
For work that needs uninterrupted time to reach resolution. See 3-hour therapy intensives.
Care is delivered in 50-minute, 90-minute, and 3-hour sessions by secure telehealth, nationwide, with clinicians who understand the toll of long cases and call, including circadian disruption in physicians who work against the clock. A surgeon can do focused work in a single 90-minute or 3-hour block on a lighter day rather than forcing a standing weekly appointment that an OR schedule will break. Modality is matched at intake rather than assigned, and the surgeon keeps the same clinician throughout. When the situation is urgent, same-week access is the norm rather than the exception.
Keep the surgeons the medical staff depends on.
A confidential conversation about a clinician-tier benefit takes one call. Nothing about it touches the system health plan.
Start a partnership conversationHow a surgeon is matched.
Every surgeon is matched by hand, not by an algorithm running against an intake form. Matching is reviewed by CEREVITY's clinical leadership, with the surgeon's specialty, schedule, and preferences weighed before any introduction is made.
The eligible individual submits a confidential intake form covering presenting issues, modality preference, professional context, and scheduling parameters. Operated by CEREVITY directly, not by a broker.
Intake is reviewed by CEREVITY's clinical leadership against the network's active capacity, current licensure footprint, and modality availability. This is the step that does not exist in an EAP. You can review the clinicians in the network directly.
A specific clinician is matched to the surgeon, who receives the match with the clinician's profile, modality, and credentials, plus a direct online scheduling link. If you are doing this for someone else, see how to find a therapist for your CEO.
Scheduling runs directly through CEREVITY infrastructure with no phone handoff. First sessions are typically scheduled within 5 to 10 business days of the match.
Care continues on the cadence the clinical work requires, in 50-minute, 90-minute, or 3-hour sessions, without an employer-imposed session cap.
Capability comparison for hospital-system surgeons.
An evaluation framework on the dimensions that matter when scoping a clinician-tier benefit. All three models have a place; they are built for different populations.
| Dimension | Typical EAP | Executive-tier platform | CEREVITY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network model | Broker layer between employer and contractor roster | Single-vendor platform, W-2 or contracted pool | Independent clinical network with direct relationships |
| Clinician assignment | First contractor to reply with availability | Algorithmic matching on intake-form inputs | Clinical review by network leadership |
| Intake and scheduling | Phone handoff to the clinician's line | App-based intake and scheduling | Network-operated intake, direct online scheduling |
| Session formats | Standard 50-minute, capped session counts | Standard 45 to 50-minute sessions | 50-minute, 90-minute, and 3-hour formats, no cap |
| Clinical scope | Acute, broadly applicable concerns | Workforce-wide, executive tier as an upsell | Built around the presenting issues of surgeons |
| Modality fit | Generalist talk therapy | Generalist therapy with some specialty | CBT, DBT, psychodynamic, IFS, matched at intake |
| Reach | National via roster density | National telehealth, roster variance | All 50 states via telehealth |
| Payment model | Employer-sponsored, in network | Per-employee-per-month seat pricing | Private pay, out of network, partnership agreement |
| System visibility | Aggregate, broker-mediated | Vendor dashboards with engagement metrics | Administrative reporting only |
| Right fit for | Workforce-wide acute support | Mid-tier ongoing care with an executive add-on | hospital-system surgeons, end to end |
If you are running a formal evaluation, our notes on what to look for in a private therapy provider cover the procurement side in detail.
What the system sees, and what it does not.
For a clinician-tier channel to work, the surgeon has to trust that using it creates no visibility into their care, and no exposure to credentialing or privileging. CEREVITY is built around that requirement.
- Confirmation that contracted services were provided to eligible individuals.
- Aggregate utilization at the partnership level, where contractually appropriate.
- Invoicing and eligibility reconciliation.
- Nothing tied to a specific named surgeon's clinical content.
- Whether a specific named surgeon has scheduled, attended, or engaged.
- What clinical issues are being addressed, or which clinician is assigned.
- Session notes, treatment plans, or diagnostic information.
- Any attendance detail at the individual level.
Clinicians are independent licensed professionals operating under their own licensure and the confidentiality and privacy obligations that attach to it. Protected health information is held within the clinical infrastructure, and the agreements governing it are defined in writing before the partnership goes live. Our notice of privacy practices and privacy policy are published in full.
Clinical records, session content, and individual engagement data sit inside the clinical platform. The administrative layer the partner interacts with is structurally separate from the clinical layer. Further context on why this matters to this population: private-pay therapy and confidentiality.
Eligibility lists are maintained on the partner side and confirmed at the point of intake. Administering eligibility does not require the partner to receive clinical information back.
A Business Associate Agreement is executed where the partnership structure requires it, and whether one applies is a determination made with counsel rather than assumed. The partnership agreement defines the administrative reporting scope in writing before anything goes live. See also our terms of service.
Surgeons in particular ask about downstream exposure before they will engage at all. The question that comes up most is whether therapy shows up on a background check, and it is answered directly on our site.
What the first 30 days look like.
The hardest part of a clinician-tier partnership is not the contract. It is the period between signature and the first surgeon in care.
A 60-minute kickoff with your team and CEREVITY's partnership lead. We confirm the partnership shape, the eligibility model, the administrative reporting scope, and the internal owner. The BAA, where applicable, is executed.
Your team provides the eligible-individual list. CEREVITY confirms it against the network and establishes the verification path at intake. Only eligibility confirmation flows forward.
CEREVITY provides a confidential, clinician-tier comms template explaining the benefit, the privacy posture, and how to access intake. It is written to be received without stigma, which matters given why discretion is the deciding factor for CEOs in the first place.
Eligible individuals begin intake on their own cadence. First sessions are typically scheduled within 5 to 10 business days. By day 30 the partnership is operational and a quarterly review cadence is in place.
The business case for the system.
Surgeon retention, sustained performance, and recruiting are the levers, and losing a surgeon idles service lines the system counts on.
Retention of surgeons
Replacing a surgeon is slow and costly, and a departure can idle an OR and shift volume to competitors. Confidential clinical care reaches the surgeons least likely to ask, and it is a concrete part of retaining high-value people.
Sustained performance
Focus, steadiness, and fine judgment degrade under chronic, unmanaged stress, and burnout's impact on productivity is measurable well before a surgeon steps back. Care that addresses the underlying pattern keeps the service line operating at the level the system assumes.
Recruiting and retention signal
Offering a clinician-tier mental health benefit signals that the system treats its surgeons as long-term professionals rather than throughput, which helps recruiting against competing systems and is why some pair it with formal therapist referral programs.
Questions medical staff leaders ask first.
Does this replace our EAP or physician-wellness program?
No. CEREVITY sits above the EAP and any existing wellness program as a clinician-tier benefit. Those continue to serve the broader workforce, while CEREVITY provides confidential, matched clinical care for the surgeons whose retention most affects the medical staff. The benefit is deliberately clinician-focused so it stays distinct from a general EAP.
How is confidentiality protected for our surgeons?
Care is private pay, so no insurance claim is filed and nothing routes through the system health plan. There is no claim record for a benefits administrator, an insurer, or the system to access. Sessions remain between the surgeon and the licensed clinician, who is bound by their own licensure confidentiality obligations. The system sees only that the benefit exists and is used, never who used it or why.
Which surgeons are typically covered?
Scope is defined in the partnership agreement. Most systems cover their surgical medical staff, including subspecialists such as those we support in community general surgery, and some extend it to surgical trainees and service-line leadership. The scope stays clinician-focused so it does not blur into a general EAP.
Is this the same as the counseling in our EAP?
No. EAP counseling is typically short-term and generic. CEREVITY is ongoing, matched clinical care with a clinician who understands the professional context, which matters because standard formats often miss this population, a pattern documented in our note that most physicians say standard therapy failed them.
How quickly can a surgeon be matched?
Once the partnership is in place, an individual surgeon is matched by hand to an appropriate clinician, typically on a same-week basis depending on licensure footprint and modality fit. First sessions are usually scheduled within 5 to 10 business days of the match. Matching is reviewed by CEREVITY's clinical leadership rather than assigned algorithmically.
Does CEREVITY cover surgeons across multiple hospitals and states?
Yes. Care is delivered by secure telehealth nationwide across all 50 states, so a single partnership can support surgeons wherever the system operates, without anyone needing to be in a particular location.
What does it cost the system?
Structure is agreed in the partnership conversation and depends on the number of surgeons covered and the scope of access. CEREVITY is a private-pay network with transparent fees, so there are no insurance-driven surprises in the accounting. Standard individual rates are published on our pricing page.
How do we begin?
Start a partnership conversation using the form on this page, by phone at (562) 295-6650, or through the contact page. A member of CEREVITY's clinical leadership will follow up directly and confidentially to scope a benefit that fits the medical staff.
Start a partnership conversation.
Tell us about your medical staff and the surgeons you want to cover. A member of CEREVITY's clinical leadership will follow up directly and confidentially.
Further reading and related partnerships.
Research, clinical writing, and the other clinical settings CEREVITY supports.
Research and data
For medical staff leaders
Clinical writing
A note on sources.
The figure that roughly one in sixteen surgeons reported suicidal ideation in the prior year, closely tied to burnout and recent medical error, is drawn from Shanafelt and colleagues and summarized by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The structural argument on this page is based on the firsthand experience of CEREVITY clinicians who have served on EAP panels, combined with publicly available vendor materials. Specific contractual scopes, including any Business Associate Agreement, are confirmed in writing in the partnership agreement before a partnership goes live. Additional CEREVITY research is collected in the knowledge base. If you or a colleague are in crisis, help is available at 988.
