The switch to value-based care from fee-for-service helped in-home primary care provider Heal grow 60% in the past four months. Heal made the change last October, following the appointment of new CEO Scott Vertrees. Value-based care is a form of reimbursement that ties payments to quality of care and patient outcomes.
Vertrees said in a press release the company’s business model, which includes physician house calls, telehealth and remote patient monitoring, combined with value-based care helped Heal respond to social determinants of health that can influence patient outcomes.
“The significant growth we experienced during the annual enrollment period is proof that seniors trust our primary care providers and our services,” Vertrees said. “Shifting our care model to focus on their long-term health in a sensible, value-based framework is a significant step toward modernizing the $4 trillion healthcare industry.”
Heal reported that in the past year the number of in-home physician visits has tripled.. As a result, Heal has tripled the number of full-time primary care providers.
Heal joins a growing number of companies, including VillageMD, DispatchHealth and Doctor on Demand — providing what is known as longitudinal care — that are pushing physician care into homes. Research firm Grand View Research values the U.S. house call market at approximately $460 million and projects it will expand at a compounded annual growth rate of 5.5% over the next five years.
Heal provides approximately 250,000 in-home physician visits annually to patients in just under a dozen states. The company has plans to expand nationally in the coming months.
