Virtual care provider Included Health said Wednesday it is partnering with hospital-at-home firm DispatchHealth to offer a new “virtual-to-in-home, care model.”
“The goal of this partnership is to advance the connectivity between the organizations’ virtual-first care model with local clinical experts to ensure that if a patient would benefit from on-demand, in-home care support, we can enable this,” Included Health Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Victoria Khamsombath told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse in an email.
In-home clinical services will include diagnostics (such as EKG, ultrasound), pharmacy (such as IVs and nebulizers) and a CLIA-certified lab. She offered the example of a patient with a broken leg who might need a test for a strep throat and ear infection, or who suffers a burn.
“Initial assessments for care will all be done virtually,” she said. “Should the patient present with clinical concerns that can be effectively treated by the DispatchHealth team, they will be sent to the patient’s home.”
Both providers will start going live with pilots in key markets as early as this summer. The dual service will be available as an add-on option to Included Health’s virtual primary care solution for employees and members of Included Health partners such as health plans and employers. DispatchHealth is not offering Included Health’s services. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
Included Health’s virtual primary care team is composed of a multidisciplinary group of care professionals that are quarterbacked by a primary care clinician, she said. DispatchHealth in-home teams typically consist of mid-level clinicians and/or EMTs, with ER physicians on-call. DispatchHealth and Included Health will work in tandem to monitor patients’ conditions and provide care.
“Our primary care physician led team is made up of a multidisciplinary group of professionals who can address a broad spectrum of healthcare needs and are also well-positioned to assess and risk stratify a patient’s condition,” Khamsombath said, adding, “Alternatively, if a member could benefit from an in-home visit, DispatchHealth would be called upon to see the patient on the same day in their home for acute services.”
DispatchHealth CEO and co-founder Mark Prather, MD, noted that the two companies will complement each other.
“With advancements in technology, high-acuity care can be delivered in the home at a much lower cost with an enhanced care experience and improved outcomes,” he said in a statement. “We are excited to add our high-acuity, in-home capabilities to the capabilities of Included Health, a company that continues to push what’s possible with integrated healthcare.”
