Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic are investing $100 million in what they call an “unprecedented” collaboration to deliver imaging and other acute care services at home.
The two hospital heavyweights are investing big bucks into Medically Home, a Boston-based technology company that helps facilitate treatment for higher-acuity conditions outside the traditional hospital setting. Those include cancer care, emergency medicine, transfusions, COVID-19 treatment and chronic disease, the companies announced Thursday.
“This partnership is a significant step in our commitment to providing the right care in the right setting for every patient as we continue to help lead the transformation of healthcare,” Greg Adams, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Hospitals, said May 13. “While the pandemic has put a spotlight on the limitations of brick-and-mortar healthcare delivery, this important expansion of Medically Home’s resources will help fill a critical need going forward.”
Mayo launched its own advanced care-at-home program last summer at its Florida and Wisconsin locations. The service delivers complex care services in patients’ residences, including imaging and lab services, behavioral health and skilled nursing. A network of community paramedics and nurses facilitate the program, under Mayo’s clinical supervision. Kaiser also launched its own offering in Northern California and Oregon, utilizing a single command center in each region to support multiple hospitals.
Currently, Medically Home offers imaging via portable scanners, while patients requiring MRI or CT are transported to a facility and then brought back to their residence. Those involved said the Mayo-Kaiser investment will allow the company to build capacity to the home care model, expand access and address any regulatory barriers to its proliferation.
Medically Home said its care model incorporates a 24/7 command center staffed by several types of clinicians, along with an integrated care team delivering bedside treatment. Patients using the offering have demonstrated a lower need for recurring hospitalization 30 days after the episode, those involved noted. Other systems such as Adventist Health, ProMedica and UNC are also using the model.
“Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente partnering with Medically Home to lead the transformation of the delivery of healthcare is a watershed moment for our national health systems,” Raphael Rakowski, executive chairman of Medically Home, said in a statement.
The move comes after Denver-based home care provider DispatchHealth just recently acquired a mobile imaging provider, also aiming to expand the delivery of radiology and other services in residential settings.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.