Aledade has announced an arrangement with telehealth platform Updox to offer a comprehensive telehealth solution to Aledade’s national network of physician-led accountable care organizations.
“While our partner physicians across the country manage an unprecedented publica health crisis, they are encouraging their patients to stay home and stay safe to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus. But elderly and high-risk patients still need access to primary care. That’s why we are working with Updox to roll out increased telehealth services to help expand access and keep vulnerable patients at home during the crisis,” said Aledade Founder and CEO Farzad Mostashari, MD. “Telehealth can keep patients safe, provide them with care for chronic conditions, all while maintaining revenue that practices need to keep operating. Simply put, this collaboration is good for patients, good for doctors, and good for society.”
Over the past three days, more than 150 practices have implemented the Updox telehealth platform. Aledade will continue to roll this out to interested Aledade ACO primary care practices and clinics across the country in the coming weeks. The platform is offered at a below-cost fee structure to help ACO primary care practices during these uncertain times. In addition to working directly with practices to set up the platform and implement best practices for telehealth, Aledade will offer on-the-ground support from practice transformation specialists and a tech support team to troubleshoot any problems that may arise.
Aledade has done many things to support and empower primary care physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak. The company procured tens of thousands of KN95 respirators, many surgical masks, bottles of hand sanitizer, and other supplies, for example. It has also produced patient-friendly materials for practices to use to educate their patients about COVID-19 and continues to provide detailed policy guidance in a rapidly changing public health landscape.
“We are incredibly grateful to both Aledade and Updox for putting together a telehealth solution for our practice in a matter of days. It’s nice not to be facing this public health crisis alone,” said Jen Brull, a physician at Post Rock Family Medicine in Plainville, Kansas, and a member of the Aledade Kansas ACO. “Both companies are fully engaged in helping us get the tools we need to see more of our patients, and see them safely as we navigate the outbreak of COVID-19.”
Read the full press release here.