The city of Jacksonville, Florida, is addressing access to the attention of unsealed (approximately 100,000 people) through a virtual service that connects them with local suppliers. In its first three months of operation, the program called HealthlinkjaxHe has saved taxpayers almost $ 1 million in possible ER visits. Healthlinkjax is addressing an important problem for the community, since it is an important problem for communities throughout the country: Oscowding. Many people without insurance see the emergency department as their only resource for reliable care. But the Healthlinkjax program is working to guide people without insurance to virtual care suppliers, in order to improve their results and relieve overloaded emergency departments.
Matthew Thompson, MD, an emergency doctor certified by the Board who has been in clinical practice for 14 years, is the CEO and co -founder of Telescope Health, based in Jacksonville, which is described on its website as «a medical care solution company directed by a doctor Focused on reducing the barriers for attention through innovation, human connection and technology «; and it is the health of the telescope that provides the clinical workforce behind the success of Healthlinkjax. As the company points out,» since 2018, our mission has been to improve the results and provide solutions for unique value care in association with medical care organizations. Dr. Rill and Dr. Thompson, both emergencies, founded Telescope Health after seeing countless patients from the emergency department without timely access to a primary care doctor or care navigation services. In recent years, our passionate leadership team has grown up to include experts with years of technology experience, patient experience, provider training and value -based care. «
Dr. Thompson recently spoke with Health innovation Chief editor Mark Hagland regarding the creation of telescope, the set of needs that the organization is directed in Jacksonville and in other places, and the opportunity to meet the needs of Americans without insurance for care. Then there are extracts from that interview.
How would you describe the range and services of Telescope Health?
We are a national company with contracts and customers throughout the United States. We are really a value -based care organization and enabled for technology. We are delivering the same set of services in the payer, employer, ACO [accountable care organization]sides Delivering the same services.
We provide data -based virtual attention. We have our own analysis software. On the ACO side, we carry out a preventive dissemination for the medical groups of Acados, we provide coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to avoid visits to the emergency service and we do everything invisible. We do not want to steal patients. We make it blank under the ACO or medical group, so as not to confuse patients.
Tell me about the company’s foundation?
We found the company in 2018; The telescope began as a service line for a existing ED personnel group, emergency resource group. In 2018-2019, we established the health of the telescope as a separate entity. And Baptist Health in Jacksonville, our first client, is still one of our biggest clients. I am an emergency doctor and, as a group of emergency resources, we begin to work with our partners to reduce ED and hospital intake rates. We begin in a very different way to consumer -oriented organizations. We are built our infrastructure to receive real -time references, etc. It is a different approach. In our nucleus, we are a medical organization.
We have our own patented telemedicine software, etc. We cover its employees for virtual care services and navigation, and Telesalud services, and monitor transition care directed for congestive heart failure, among other lines of clinical services. And we quickly branch next to the employer: Ameriflex, a benefit administrator with more than 55,000 employees, so we are providing services to their customers. For example, they provide the Consolidated Assignments Law requirements [around pricing transparency]. Employers are being sued because employees are spending too much in medical care. And Ameriflex is helping runners, employer administrators and others, addressing those concerns. Many employers are now self -founding And they are looking for ways to reduce expenses and, frankly, urgent attention telemedicine does not help control 2 percent with high levels of chronic disease. Therefore, the proactive dissemination to these patients. And that is value based on value. Then we fill that void, because we can provide the suppliers.
How is your medical body?
We have a large pool that takes care of patients nationwide. In fact, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Nebraska, with 400,000 members in the state, is one of our clients. And we take care of more than 100,000 patients in Jacksonville. According to all that, we have a group of several hundred doctors involved with us; Some are employees, others are in contract. It is like a super driving driver. We also have therapists and psychiatrists at the national level as well, in the 50 states.
Because we work with employers and health plans, everywhere, from Alaska to New York and Florida, by state law, it should be able to treat patients wherever they are, even if they travel. So that is a standard, having suppliers in all states, to provide Telesalud.
Can you say how many visits a year they completely register?
It is in the tens of thousands of visits.
What have been the biggest challenges to architect this and make it work?
Providing an urgent attention visit on the Telesalud and treating someone’s liquid nose is the easiest element; And the use is sometimes low. The most challenging aspect is workflows and associations involved. But we are the first in the country to develop a program fully financed by a municipality, in this case, the city of Jacksonville, through Healthlinkjax, which provides virtual attention to Jacksonville residents. I have delivered a Tedtalk on the subject. And each municipality has a budget for EMS, telephone service, etc. and the population without insurance often uses the emergency department as its main attention; But value -based attention means addressing those needs from the beginning. And if he is a Medicalid patient, he will have incentives to enter the value based on value. The population without insurance does not have that.
So, this program is quite simple from a public health perspective. Call 925 attention if you have no insurance; A nursing team will address your needs. If a doctor needs, they immediately send him a link and a doctor sees it. And if you are diabetic, I will connect you with care management. In Jacksonville, we have seven safety network clinics, two federally qualified health centers and five independent health systems, some for profit and other non -profit purposes. Jacksonville is a great medical center. We have a lot of hospital beds and a smaller population here in Jacksonville, including a Mayo Clinic branch, as well as UF Health, Baptist Health and HCA Healthcare.
And in this program, because we integrate services with health systems, we have a real -time food of health systems to be able to reach patients. Health systems love it because we are freeing Ers and beds. And I can immediately help the patient, even through follow -up. We provide that transition care service. It is very complete from a data integration perspective, clinical workflow perspective and provides a comprehensive care perspective. We are in conversations with ten municipalities. And we are successful because we are marked blank. We are unique.
Until last month, more than 3,000 calls have gone through this program, and more than 1,000 people have used us instead of the emergency department. In Duvall County, if you do not have insurance, $ 4,800 is the average cost of an emergency service visit. The average position will get an invoice for $ 4,800, and that could have been avoided.
How do you see the next few years for your company?
We have payers, health insurance customers who want us to reach their members; We have municipalities and we have self -financed employers and health systems. It doesn’t matter who comes to us; It is data integration, the scope of navigation and attention. For us, it is largely on the engineering side, so we can join all those pieces. And if we can integrate with your data, we can provide specific services and achieve a financial ROI. So we will replicate this in other big cities, and see results.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
In the center of all this, it does not work unless it is associated and collaborated. Where things fail is when a single supplier or entity wants to control everything. You cannot get interested. We are the glue in the middle. When providing 24/7 access to a doctor, it can be the glue.
