Reimagine Care, which provides technology-enabled services to support the delivery of home-centered care, and hospital-at-home firm DispatchHealth on Tuesday disclosed a partnership to bring cancer care into the home.
“Supporting patients virtually, through our experienced oncology clinicians, and in the home, through this partnership with DispatchHealth, will alleviate many of the triage and symptom management demands on clinicians while improving the cancer care experience for patients and their families,” Pallav Mehta, MD, medical director of Reimagine Care, said in a statement.
Cancer care spending is projected to grow by 34% to $246 billion by 2030, according to a June study. Significant contributors are unplanned hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
“Travelling to an emergency room for diagnostics or treatment of side effects while undergoing cancer therapy is the last thing a patient wants or needs,” DispatchHealth co-founder and CEO Mark Prather, MD, said in a statement. “The risk of hospital-acquired infections is real, as is the inconvenience and unnecessary cost. We believe that the home is the optimal site of care to heal whenever possible.”
The two companies will work together to manage patients. Reimagine Care’s Cancer Care at Home platform will proactively monitor patients who will have 24/7 access to experienced oncology nurses and advanced practice providers via SMS text, phone and video. When virtual clinicians identify a need for hands-on care, they can order DispatchHealth, which will come to the patient’s home “with the necessary tools and treatments — including those that can address more complex clinical needs that would traditionally require a trip to the hospital or emergency room,” a press release states.
“Creating this pathway for vulnerable patients to get the care they need without leaving home is an industry game-changer; we are committed to the enablement and delivery of high acuity care in the home, and this partnership furthers that goal,” Prather said.
