NY Healthcare Program Adds Telehealth Services for PACE Participants

A healthcare service run by the Archdiocese of New York is launching a home telehealth platform for seniors that coordinates care through their television.

ArchCare, which offers services for seniors, the poor and those with special needs through home care, rehabilitation programs, assisted living centers and insurance plans, is partnering with Medsign to launch the company’s Qortex platform for members in ArchCare Senior Life, a federally recognized Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model of care.

Qortex, unveiled by the New York-based connected health company last March, offers virtual care services through a hub that synchs with an HDMI television, and is compatible with smartphones and laptops. The platform allows care providers to manage a patient’s care remotely, with services that include medication management, scheduling and care reminders and integration with mHealth apps for health, wellness and security.

ArchCare launched a pilot program with Medsign in October 2020 and is now rolling the service out system-wide to its PACE participants.

PACE was created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for seniors who need long-term support services (LTSS), or a nursing home level of care. Developed as a capitated model of care for dual-eligible beneficiaries (ninety percent are dual eligible), it provides all necessary medical care, therapies, long term care and services, meals, socialization, transportation, day center services and activities.

There are currently 135 PACE programs in 31 states, enrolling between 50 and 3,000 patients, for a total of more than 54,000 seniors served. The programs are based in a care center and feature an interdisciplinary care team (IDT) of primary care physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, dieticians, home care professionals and others and offers a variety of services on-site and in the home.

These programs have traditionally shied away from telehealth in favor of hands-on care, but more and more are looking at remote patient monitoring and telehealth platforms to improve access to care and expand their operations.

At about the same time that the pilot was taking place, the national PACE Association released a report identifying telehealth as an important component in managing care for seniors at home, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Like many other Medicare and Medicaid providers, PACE has also further embraced telehealth - a development that is likely to accelerate,” the report concluded. “Traditionally, PACE has relied heavily on face-to-face interactions and interventions with participants. Now, PACE organizations are quickly transforming to best meet the evolving needs of their participants, whose own circumstances have changed due to COVID-19 - both by figuring out how to field a more comprehensive array of services in participants’ homes more frequently, and by adapting the PACE center itself for different uses.”

The ArchCare program, once implemented and showing results, could give PACE operators more ideas on how to integrate telehealth beyond the pandemic.