Partnership Adds In-Home Care Model to Enhance Patient Access

A partnership between Included Health and DispatchHealth led to the creation of a virtual-to-in-home care model to support patients with injuries, illnesses, and diseases while allowing them to remain in their homes.

Following the expansion of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare stakeholders have examined ways to use virtual care to assist patients without the need for travel. Virtual visits, remote patient monitoring, and at-home care solutions have supported the growing popularity of remote care delivery.

Included Health provides telehealth and healthcare navigation services. Now in collaboration with DispatchHealth, the company has unveiled a virtual-to-in-home care model. Through this model, the organization will enable patients to transition from online care to in-home care. The program includes in-home diagnostics, pharmacy, and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified laboratory services.

Treating complex injuries, illnesses, and diseases, this model aims to reduce emergency department visits and improve clinical interventions.

“As an emergency room physician with more than two decades of experience at the bedside, I saw first-hand that much of the care in an emergency department could be treated just as effectively in an individual’s home and, in many instances, the added context of the social and environmental picture in the home could improve the precision of the care plan. 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,” said Mark Prather, MD, co-founder and CEO of DispatchHealth, in a press release.

This collaboration will also allow virtual primary care clinicians and the care team from Included Health to connect with nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and emergency medical technicians from DispatchHealth.

“Connecting virtual-first care to a network of experts who can bring urgent medical services into the home is about serving people’s preferences and needs first, while also better managing the journey and cost of healthcare overall,” said Ami Parekh, MD, chief health officer for Included Health, in the press release. “Working with DispatchHealth is an incredible extension to our service, one that will remove the friction, travel and stress associated with visiting a resource-strained emergency room or urgent care center and allow our members to be treated and recover in an often preferred setting – the home.”

The addition of at-home care options continues to grow across various health systems.

In June 2022, for example, Memorial Hermann Health System began working with Contessa to provide patients with inpatient, rehabilitative, and palliative at-home care options.

Through this partnership, Memorial Hermann was able to offer acute hospital care, post-discharge skilled nursing care, and palliative care to patients at home. The services would be available to patients receiving eligibility approval after being seen in the emergency room. The services leverage in-person and virtual care methods along with remote patient monitoring devices to expand care into the home setting.

Also, in July 2022, Tampa General Hospital added the TGH Hospital at Home program to provide patients with hospital-level treatment from home.

Through this program, patients participate in two daily visits involving a member of the at-home clinical team making an in-person visit to a patient's home. They also can access care teams virtually.