A brand new examine printed within the New England Journal of Drugs Catalyst confirmed that Waymark’s community-based interventions lowered hospital and emergency division visits and improved care high quality.
San Francisco-based Waymark works with well being plans, main care suppliers, well being programs and federally certified well being facilities. It helps Medicaid sufferers by connecting them with neighborhood well being employees, therapists, pharmacists and care coordinators of their space. Waymark helps them entry neighborhood assets like meals and housing, psychological well being assist, medical appointments and medical gear. The corporate at present operates in Virginia and Washington.
The examine evaluated outcomes for 64,278 sufferers in two Medicaid well being plans in Virginia and Washington. Rising-risk sufferers (these prone to have larger healthcare wants) engaged with Waymark have been matched with a cohort of rising-risk sufferers not engaged with Waymark. The well being plans additionally assigned these sufferers to 2,298 in-network main care suppliers.
After a 6-month follow-up interval, the researchers discovered that Waymark’s mannequin lowered all-cause ED and hospital visits by 22.9%. This features a 20.4% lower in avoidable ED visits and a 48.3% lower in avoidable hospitalizations for rising-risk sufferers.
As well as, the examine checked out 9 high quality metrics and located that seven improved by a mean of 11.8 share factors over a calendar 12 months. These metrics have been completion of annual well-child visits, antidepressant remedy administration, follow-up after hospitalization for psychological sickness, follow-up after ED go to for psychological sickness, diabetes hemoglobin A1c administration, breast most cancers screening and postpartum care.
Waymark additionally has sufferers determine their objectives after they first have interaction with the corporate, like enhancing blood strain or managing substance use. The examine discovered that amongst sufferers engaged with Waymark, 63.3% of objectives have been accomplished.
“Once we based the corporate, we dedicated, it doesn’t matter what the outcomes, whether or not they have been favorable or unfavorable, we needed to be publishing our outcomes from this calendar 12 months in a peer evaluation journal. … [We found that] sufferers are using care extra successfully and effectively, the standard of their care has improved they usually’re assembly their very own objectives,” stated Dr. Rajaie Batniji, co-founder and CEO of Waymark, in an interview.
Batniji added that the findings come at a time when lots of Medicaid plans are dealing with headwinds.
“They’re slashing their earnings steering due to the truth that prices are coming in larger,” he stated. “And it appears to be the best unanswered query in healthcare at the moment: How do you truly handle Medicaid? I feel each payer and each supplier truly is aware of the reply. They’re by no means stunned after they hear from us what we’re doing and the way it works. I feel the problem for all of them has been, are you able to truly implement these sorts of options at scale? Can they be reproduced?”
Scaling is precisely Waymark’s plan for 2025, in keeping with Batniji. This previous 12 months has been about proving its mannequin, and now it goals to duplicate its mannequin in different elements of the nation.
Photograph: zimmytws, Getty Photographs
