Uber Health has announced that payers and providers nationwide could soon use the same platform they may have used for non-emergency medical transportation and prescription drug delivery to order and deliver other covered items directly to the patient’s home.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
Food-like drug programs, designed for patients with complex health and social needs, can reduce the number of avoidable hospital and emergency room admissions.
Uber Health says delivery is especially essential for patients who are at home or who have limited transportation or access to food and healthcare resources – social determinants of health. Health predication affects nutrition-affected chronic conditions, such as diabetes, and interferes with value-based care.
The company says 3,000 healthcare organizations have used Uber Health to get transportation to primary care appointments and access important prescriptions. Uber Health launched HIPAA-enabled dashboards and APIs in 2018 to provide logistics for population health management programs.
Soon, these providers will have access to patient benefit data and eligibility files from payers, allowing them to leverage and implement covered services.
Additional benefits can be difficult to navigate, and that’s a challenge Uber Health wants to tackle “face-to-face,” said Caitlin Donovan, Uber Health’s Global Director.
When ordering, dispatchers can customize programs to the specific health needs of their patients and access Uber-affiliated convenience and grocery stores nationwide.
TREND TO BIGGER WOMAN
Food programs such as drugs from Medicaid are being tested under the supervision of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through the Health-Related Social Needs services framework under Section 1115.
In December, CMS held a statewide call, and the nutritional support agenda was reviewed by 1115 protests – up to three meals a day as well as a fruit and vegetable prescription Fruit and protein cartons are delivered for up to 6 months to those who qualify according to the guidelines.
The KFF’s online Medicaid Waiver Tracker has information on state Medicaid programs that are granted 1115 waivers. Eight states are awaiting waivers and the Medicaid programs of Arkansas, Oregon and Massachusetts are currently piloting. food programs.
Home care management programs have also been shown to reduce readmission rates, but they are challenged by patient SDOH.
“Personal care plans have strong potential to improve the health of concurrent intensive care users,” said Dr. Amber Inofuentes, medical director of the Medicine HOME program at UVA Health. reduce the rate of re-hospitalization.
The program supports patients with complex medical conditions such as diabetes, substance use disorders, end-stage renal disease, and more.
“The challenge, however, is that many patients with these diseases face important social challenges such as unstable living conditions, food insecurity and lack of transportation,” said Inofuentes.
There is a fundamental shift in Medicaid’s role in addressing SDOH technology by 2023, said Melissa Sherry, vice president of social care integration at Unite Us.
“Instead of historically focusing only on clinical care, allowing Medicaid to pay for basic, non-clinical health promoters will transform Medicaid programs into a person-driven model,” she said. center – and one more that is more likely to drive health inequalities.” Healthcare IT News in December.
ON PROFILE
“Value-based care is the future of healthcare, but it is complex and laborious to deliver and scale,” Donovan said in a statement.
“Our platform streamlines synergies between multiple interests – non-emergency medical transportation, prescription and food delivery, and over-the-counter drug delivery, empowering payers and providers to supporting patients beyond the four walls of the medical office.”
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
