ER ANYWHERE - Virtual Emergency Room Service for Medicaid Members

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Capital District Physician’s Health Plan (CDPHP), United Concierge Medicine (UCM) and Rensselaer County partnered to provide a pilot program, ER Anywhere, to CDPHP Medicaid members to improve social determinants of health and address fraud, abuse and waste within the Medicaid system. Implemented on October 3, 2019, ER Anywhere provides CDPHP Medicaid members in Rensselaer County with the ability to connect with an emergency medical provider virtually for non-life threatening medical assistance via an app or telephone. ER Anywhere has a triage and follow up model built into the program that provides a mechanism to funnel members back to local community resources and their care teams through data and healthcare sharing between UCM and CDPHP. ER Anywhere ensures patients receive appropriate follow up with primary care physicians, specialists and social determinants of health partners.Too often, patients seek care by dialing 9-1-1 or going to the emergency room. As a result, EMS agencies and hospitals can become overloaded and patients are left waiting. ER Anywhere is a new and unique alternative to the ER, providing real-time access to emergency medical providers in minutes, rather than hours. ER Anywhere increases quality and speed of care, while reducing stress and costs to the system.ER Anywhere education and marketing was initially launched by CDPHP with direct to consumer marketing. In early 2020, Rensselaer County and UCM explored business process integration with various county departments including 911, DSS, Public Health, Mental Health, Probation, Youth and Employment and Training. This process integration allows CDPHP members to be continuously identified at multiple county departments and informed of how to directly access medical providers through ER Anywhere rather than the ER for acute medical or mental health problems. In just the first five months ER Anywhere has handled 100 visits with 97% ER avoidance and 99% patient satisfaction. On January 27, 2020, CDPHP announced that it has expanded the service to its entire Medicaid population of 85,000. https://www.cdphp.com/newsroom/2020/01/01-27-er-anywhere-impressive-results