Wellness Reimagined: Dr Bruce Alan Kehr Of HoloMD On 5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry

Provide continuous support between visits: Patients shouldn’t be left on their own for weeks at a time while receiving mental health care and treatment. Digital tools like HoloMD allow for daily touchpoints through simple, compassionate SMS check-ins. This gives patients a sense of ongoing connection and ensures clinicians see mission-critical changes in real time rather than days, weeks or months later.

In our world of constant change, and with life moving faster than ever, topics such as mental health, self-care, and prevention have become popular buzzwords. People are looking to live healthier lives, and there is superb care out there that is being offered. At the same time, there are misconceptions about the meaning of self-care and exercise. Many opt for quick solutions — surgery, pills — to dull the problem without adequately addressing the underlying cause. Meanwhile, many parts of the industry are unregulated and oversaturated. People with years of training are competing with people with weekend training. Many providers are overworked, overwhelmed, and underpaid. The general public is not educated about asking the right questions when selecting a wellness provider. In the face of all this, what can be done to correct the status quo? In this interview series, we are seeking to hear from a variety of leaders in the health and wellness industries who agree that the wellness industry is in need of an overhaul and offer suggestions about what can be done moving forward. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dr. Bruce Alan Kehr, M.D.

Dr. Bruce Alan Kehr, M.D., founder and CEO of HoloMD™, is a serial entrepreneur who also founded Potomac Psychiatry and Adhere+, a digital health platform for managing chronic pain patients with SUD. He is a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, a recognition he has earned for 10 consecutive years, placing him among the top 1% of physicians in the U.S. (est.), as well as a best-selling author, blogger, podcaster, and recipient of numerous other awards in psychiatry. Dr. Kehr incorporates a Root Cause Psychiatry® approach to evaluating and treating patients which may include genetic testing, gut microbiome assessment, and cellular, immunologic, infectious disease, and toxic and metabolic assays to deliver highly personalized, precise care, to address the underlying causes of mental health challenges for lasting recovery.

Thank you so much for doing this interview. It is an honor. Our readers would love to learn more about you and your personal background. Can you please share your personal backstory? What has brought you to this point in your life?

I grew up in a home shaped by loss and mental illness. After my baby brother died suddenly, my mother fell into a severe mental illness that later became an addiction. As a child I often felt isolated, and that experience set the course of my life’s work.

I was fortunate enough to have stabilizing influences, which I refer to as my five superheroes, that got me through this time: a father who nurtured my curiosity for science, creating and building things; a grandfather who immigrated from Hungary, became a physician and took me on house calls, modeling compassion in medicine; a grandmother who became a renowned braillist through sheer dedication; another grandfather who, with only an eighth-grade education, built a business and taught me resilience; and our family dog, Kelly, who listened without judgment and reminded me of the power of a caring presence to enable emotional survival.

Those early lessons drew me to study the human mind, through philosophy, global travel and ultimately psychiatry, where I learned that listening and love often heal as much as medicine. In practice, I became frustrated with symptom-focused care and pioneered Root Cause Psychiatry® at Potomac Psychiatry. The foundation of my early childhood solidified my belief that advanced care shouldn’t be limited to the affluent. That conviction led me to co-found Adhere+ and now HoloMD.

Inspired by the heroes who rescued my childhood, we created Dr. Holo, a caring, always-there “mental health superhero” that supports patients between visits and equips physicians during visits, so no one has to feel alone as I once did. My career is about turning childhood trauma into systems that help people heal at scale.

What is your “why” behind the work that you do? What fuels you?

My “why” comes from continuously seeing how people can fall through the cracks of our mental health system. Too many patients wait months for brief visits, are prescribed medications without deeper investigation and don’t have anyone to turn to in the long stretches between appointments. That gap often leads to worsening conditions, unnecessary suffering or even crises.

What fuels me is knowing that we, as a society, can and must do better. Psychiatry has the tools and science to go beyond symptom management, but access remains inequitable. I feel a responsibility to change that. It’s why I pioneered Root Cause Psychiatry® and helped launch HoloMD: to combine the best of human compassion with advanced science and Artificial Intelligence technology, so that support is continuous, personalized and available to anyone, regardless of means.

At the heart of it, my “why” is about restoring trust and hope. I want all patients to feel truly seen and supported, and I want doctors to feel empowered with the resources they need. That’s what drives me every day.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?

Right now, the most exciting project I’m working on is with HoloMD. We’ve built the company to address one of the biggest gaps in psychiatry: what happens between clinic visits. Patients may wait weeks or months to visit with their psychiatrist, and during that time they can struggle with side effects, setbacks or crises. HoloMD is designed to be their companion during those moments. Each clinician’s Dr. Holo, their white-labeled AI Agent, provides daily check-ins with their patients via SMS between visits.

For clinicians, this dramatically lightens the workload. Our “human-in-the-loop” dashboard reviewers monitor the conversations, escalate any critical information and alert physicians before problems become crises. That kind of early intervention can help prevent further deterioration, and, in some cases, reduce the risk of suicide, self-harm or harm to others. Today, with more than 1,000 patients already being monitored, we’re seeing firsthand how this model makes care more effective.

We’re also developing decision support tools within HoloMD that will give clinicians evidence-based insights during sessions. That could range from suggesting lab tests or providing the latest research on treatment options, all while keeping the doctor fully in control.

However, what excites me the most with HoloMD is that we’ve built it to be accessible. It’s not just for premium patients — it’s also for people on Medicaid, Medicare or with limited resources. Our long term goal is to expand to municipalities and even support the homeless. For me, the combination of compassion, technology and equity is what makes this project so meaningful.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was planning to start Potomac Psychiatry, I wanted to do it with a partner to balance the startup expenses. At the time, my wife and I had very little money, we were living in a house we could barely afford and I had just left another practice where the owner had reneged on a commitment he’d made to me. Candidly, we were somewhat desperate to get my own practice underway as we needed the money. I had met another psychiatrist who I previously worked with at a hospital and really liked — he was very funny and I admired his practice style. We agreed to become partners, and I shared with him my hopes and dreams for the future practice we would create together.

I had an attorney draw up the partnership papers. To celebrate the signing of the papers, my wife and I had his wife and him over to our house for a barbecue, where we would have a formal signing ceremony followed by champagne and dinner. He and I first sat in the hot tub in our backyard and I was excitedly talking with him about the future we could create together. I let my soon-to-be partner know when my wife signaled it was time to get out, dry off, sign the agreement and eat. He had a sudden panicked look on his face, fully submerged himself under the hot tub water for quite some time, then reemerged and said to me, “I’m sorry, I just can’t do it. I can’t sign. It is too risky. My wife and I will need to leave now.” And so they left.

Initially my wife and I panicked over having to launch the practice ourselves, but the rest, as they say, is history. My wife and I to this day chuckle over his submerging himself, and how that may have played into his decision. The panicked look we understood, but the submerging? What it taught me was that age-old lesson of “hire slow” and for any relationship that is really important, never rush the decision and first get to know the other person really well, and do a lot of due diligence behind the scenes.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. From where you stand, why are you passionate about the topic of Reimagining The Health and Wellness industries? Can you explain what you mean with a story or an example?

I’m passionate about reimagining the health and wellness industries because the current system leaves too many people unsupported without continuous care. For example, one of our recent patients using HoloMD reported through their daily Dr. Holo check-in that they were experiencing new, disturbing thoughts of harming others after starting a medication. That entry immediately triggered an alert to our dashboard reviewer who escalated it to the physician overseeing care. Within hours, the doctor connected with the patient, and they voluntarily admitted themself to the hospital for stabilization.

In a traditional model, that patient may have waited weeks for their next appointment, and the warning signs could have been missed until it was too late. By reimagining mental health care to include continuous digital support coupled with human oversight, we’re able to intervene earlier, lighten the clinician’s workload and potentially save lives. Reimaging the industry to me is changing how care is delivered so it’s proactive and truly patient-clinician-centered.

When I talk about Reimagining the Wellness industry, I am talking about reimagining it from the perspective of the providers as well as from the perspective of the recipients and patients. Can you share a few reasons why the status quo is not working for both providers and patients?

The status quo is not working for patients or providers, and the problems are similar and deeply connected. For patients, the reality is long waiting times followed by very short visits. In between, they may struggle with a wide array of symptoms, side effects or crises with little to no support. That lack of continuity causes too many people to drop out of treatment or end up in escalated situations when earlier intervention could have been successful.

For providers, the system is equally strained. Psychiatrists are, more often than not, overwhelmed by demand, which leaves little time to truly dive deep into a patient’s life outside of symptoms and prescriptions. On top of that, the administrative burden leads to burnout and less meaningful patient interactions.

Reimagining wellness means tackling both sides at once. It’s critical to give patients continuous, compassionate support and also equip providers with tools that reduce workload and allow them to focus on being doctors instead of data clerks. That’s the goal and future we have in mind for HoloMD.

Why do you think there is a good opportunity now to improve and reform the health and wellness industry?

The challenges in mental health care have never been more visible or urgent than they are right now. Demand for care has skyrocketed, with more and more Americans reporting mental health concerns each day. At the same time there are not enough providers and wait times that can stretch for months. Clinicians are also burning out due to overwhelming caseloads and administrative burdens.

What’s different today is that we now have the tools to change the trajectory. Advances in AI, like remote monitoring and digital engagement, make it possible to extend care to 24/7, which could catch troubling signs earlier and give doctors actionable insights without adding to their workload. Patients are also more open than ever before to digital solutions, especially when it’s embedded with real human oversight. That blend of need, advancement and patient readiness makes now the absolute best moment to rethink and truly reform how health and wellness are delivered.

Can you please share your “5 Things That Should Be Done To Improve and Reform The Health & Wellness Industry”? Please share an example or story for each if you can.

1 . Provide continuous support between visits: Patients shouldn’t be left on their own for weeks at a time while receiving mental health care and treatment. Digital tools like HoloMD allow for daily touchpoints through simple, compassionate SMS check-ins. This gives patients a sense of ongoing connection and ensures clinicians see mission-critical changes in real time rather than days, weeks or months later.

2 . Give clinicians their time back: Providers are spending too much of their valuable and limited visit window piecing together everything that has happened since the last session. By investing in the use of digital tools like HoloMD, information can be summarized and presented clearly so doctors can walk into the meeting room prepared. This frees them to focus on meaningful dialogue rather than data collection. It can help “rehumanize psychiatry.”

3 . Make safety proactive, not reactive: Too often warning signs of decline are missed until a patient ends up in critical care. By pairing AI detection with human reviewers, HoloMD is able to flag concerns early. This proactive safety net gives clinicians the chance to intervene before a crisis develops or worsens.

4 . Expand access to advanced care: Advanced psychiatric approaches have traditionally been limited to patients with significant resources. The goal now must be to offer that level of care to all, regardless of if someone has private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or no insurance at all. Equity needs to be embedded into the system now more than ever before. Artificial Intelligence applications will help enable this.

5 . Embrace a humanized approach to care: Technology should support, not replace, the clinician-patient relationship. By giving doctors meaningful context about their patients’ lives, such as stressors, sleep patterns or family dynamics, tools like HoloMD make interactions more personalized. This ensures that care remains grounded in empathy while also being supported by innovation.

From the recipient and patient side of the industry, can you please share a few ways that patients and recipients should reimagine what the wellness and healthcare industry should provide?

From the patient side, it’s time to expect more from the wellness and healthcare industry than occasional, transactional visits. Care shouldn’t stop the moment you leave the doctor’s office. Patients should be able to count on continuous and personalized support that’s responsive to what they’re actually experiencing during everyday life. True progress comes when care adapts to the rhythms of real life, not just the clinical schedule.

What do you think are the biggest roadblocks to reforming the industry? What can be done to address those hurdles?

One of the biggest barriers to reforming the health and wellness industry is resistance to change from both the provider and patient lens. Healthcare is a cautious field; patient safety and privacy are of the utmost priority. However, that caution often translates into a reluctance to adopt new models or tools. Even when innovations can ease clinician workload or improve patient outcomes, hesitation is still central.

The way to overcome this is by making adoption as easy and seamless as possible. New solutions have to fit directly into the clinician’s workflow and come with proven guardrails for safety and privacy. Just as important, they have to provide patients with peace of mind. When both providers and patients feel confident that innovation strengthens care instead of complicates it, resistance gives way to trust and real reform becomes possible.

I’m very passionate about the topic of proactive versus reactive self-care and healthcare. What do you think can be done to shift the industries towards a proactive healthcare approach? How can we shift the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike?

Shifting the industry to a proactive approach starts with changing how we think about when care happens. We frequently wait for a crisis before treatment begins. Instead, we need systems that capture what patients are experiencing in real time and surface early warning signs before problems escalate.

For providers, the key is making proactive care accessible. That means giving clinicians tools like Dr. Holo to bolster their care. When a clinician can determine in a session with their patient what’s been happening in their patient’s life since the last session, they can shift from reacting to emergencies to guiding long-term wellness.

For patients, it’s about normalizing self-care as an everyday practice rather than reserved for post-crisis events. Simple actions, like logging how you feel, noticing patterns and staying engaged with your care team, can help create continuity and accountability.

Thank you for all that great insight! Let’s start wrapping up. Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

There are two. My father taught me, “You build your reputation over a lifetime and you can lose it in a heartbeat.” It resonates with me so much because it guides my decisions and actions every day. I not only carefully guard my own reputation, but also our customer’s reputations. This foundation provides me with a moral and ethical compass that helps simplify decision making. In the book ‘Principle Centered Leadership’ by Steven Covey, he makes the point that whenever one is faced with a tough decision, to ask oneself what are the underlying principles of the matter at hand. Once those are identified, one’s decision is easier as it is made out of bedrock. My father’s sage advice is Principle №1 for me.

The second one is from Ayn Rand who said, “You can choose to avoid reality, but you cannot choose to avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” This helps shape my decisions and behavior every day, as I always ask for a report on what is really happening, no matter how scary or painful, so I can develop a plan to deal with it.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

If she were still alive, it would be Ayn Rand, as ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is my all-time favorite book, and I have read all 1,200 pages three times. I believe it is the best book on human nature, and the power of how our external ecosystem can either nourish and support amazing emergent properties inside of us, or cause one’s soul to wither and die.

Of those living, it would be Ben Horowitz, cofounder of a16z. His two books, ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’ and ‘What You Do is Who You Are’ have deeply influenced me. And then I could also persuade him to invest in HoloMD.

I appreciate your time and valuable contribution. One last question, how can people reach or follow you?

Those interested can keep up to speed through my personal LinkedIn, as well as the HoloMD LinkedIn and website..

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.