What You Should Know:
– DUOS, a digital health company, came out of stealth today backed by $6M in combined seed funding from healthcare investor Redesign Health and consumer-focused Forerunner Ventures.
– DUOS provides a personal assistant for aging — a Duo — to help older adults stay healthy and age independently in their own homes. DUOS works with its members and their loved ones, along with health plans and providers, to provide holistic, personalized support.
– In addition, DUOS announced it is collaborating with Magellan Health, one of the nation’s leaders in behavioral health and special/complex populations, to connect older adults with social support and resources to manage social isolation, healthcare access and behavioral health needs.
How it Works
DUOS pairs a trained personal assistant for aging — a Duo — with an older adult, to provide companionship and help with needs such as using technology for ordering groceries, arranging for safe transportation and navigating complicated health related matters. These services will all be provided to certain Medicare and Dual Eligible Medicaid members.
While health plans and providers have increasingly adapted to address the social determinants of health (SDoH), SDoA is a more recent phenomenon. While SDoA overlaps with SDoH in that they both impact people’s health, well-being and quality of life, SDoA specifically addresses the unique needs of our older population. DUOS solves for SDoA by combining human contact with technology to provide its personalized services, recognizing that establishing trust is imperative and the first step to achieving shared goals.
As part of a growing trend to expand alternative methods of care, Medicare Advantage and Dual Eligible Medicaid programs are increasingly providing supplemental coverage for social needs provider services; they recognize the value of investing in the resources that will promote stable, healthy, independent lives.
Availability
DUOS’ direct-to-consumer web-based service is now available in all 50 states by enrollment.
