What You Should Know:
– DispatchHealth launches Clinic Without Walls, a new service line offering patients a telemedicine visit with in-person assistance for more complex medical visits.
– The initial service line will be available in a pilot to MultiCare patients in the Tacoma and Spokane areas in an effort to its senior patients’ alternative visits during the pandemic.
DispatchHealth, a provider of in-home high-acuity medical care, today announced the launch of Clinic Without Walls. The new service line expands access to care for vulnerable patients by offering enhanced virtual visits with hands-on support. Clinic Without Walls is initially being offered to MultiCare patients in the Tacoma and Spokane areas.
MultiCare identified DispatchHealth’s hospital-at-home program as a means to alleviate hospital capacity during the current surge in COVID-19 cases. Qualifying patients are able to avoid an unnecessary stay at the hospital and instead receive daily rounding from DispatchHealth’s clinical team, remote patient monitoring, nursing, durable medical equipment delivery, social intervention, physical therapy, and care coordination at home.
Patients are cared for by DispatchHealth’s clinical team, which includes a board-certified hospitalist-trained internist, a team of advanced practice providers along with nurse care coordinators. Eligible patients are identified from MultiCare emergency rooms, ambulatory practices, and the existing DispatchHealth acute care delivery service, which currently operates in the area. DispatchHealth will contract with payers for the service in the state of Washington in addition to the recent Medicare waivers. These services will be available in the Tacoma Metro area with further expansion expected in Olympia and Seattle in 2021.
In addition to the launch of hospital-at-home services, DispatchHealth is launching a new service line with MultiCare, Clinic Without Walls. The offering expands access to care for vulnerable patients by providing enhanced virtual visits with hands-on support. DispatchHealth’s new service line is initially being offered to MultiCare patients in the Tacoma and Spokane areas.
Meeting the Growing Needs of In-Home Medical Care Options
Telemedicine visits have become an increasingly popular option to help decrease a patient’s risk of exposure to COVID-19, however, more advanced capabilities are often required for vulnerable patients who are facing chronic disease or require medically complex care. The Clinic Without Walls model offers these patients hands-on support from a DispatchHealth medical technician to help guide them through a telemedicine presentation and connect them with a physician.
“The current critical surge highlights the need for more in-home medical care options,” said Dr. Mark Prather, chief executive officer and co-founder of DispatchHealth. “Our unique model continues to expand and meet the growing needs of patients, payers and provider partners. We are excited to continue to grow our partnership with MultiCare to help their most vulnerable patients, in the midst of the pandemic and beyond, by treating medically complex issues at home.”
How It Works
During a Clinic Without Walls visit, a DispatchHealth medical technician visits a patient where they live and assists them in virtually connecting with a MultiCare physician. They come equipped with a handheld, telehealth exam kit developed by TytoCare, manufacturer of the hand-held telehealth device DispatchHealth uses. The kit allows them to assist a guided medical exam including assessment of the lungs, ears, throat, skin, and abdomen. In addition, comprehensive vital signs, social determinants of health intervention, and coordination on additional lab work or imaging.
“The goal of this program is to keep MultiCare’s vulnerable patients safe and healthy”, said Christi McCarren, senior vice president of retail health and community based care at MultiCare. “Many of these patients have been deferring care due to the fear of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, this program helps patients facing significant mobility and transportation issues receive the care they need.”
Clinical Without Models Care Model
DispatchHealth’s Clinic Without Walls model complements the organization’s additional service lines, which include Advanced Care, Extended Care, and Acute Care. Combined, DispatchHealth is able to reduce avoidable ER visits, hospital admissions or a stay at a skilled nursing facility. The company has experienced a period of rapid expansion and record growth and has more than doubled its national footprint in 2020, with services available in 28 cities across the United States. DispatchHealth is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays. For more information, including market hours and areas of service, visit DispatchHealth.com
