Dive Brief:
- Carena has partnered with UleCare, an affiliate of Univeristy of Iowa Health Care, to launch what the company says is the first virtual clinic for Spanish-speaking patients.
- The virtual clinic at UleSalud.com will expand care to more than 170,000 Spanish-speaking individuals.
- The portal will connect Spanish-speaking patients with Spanish-speaking providers, and if one is not available, an interpreter will join the virtual visit.
Dive Insight:
The virtual clinic provides care visits via phone or the internet that usually last about 20 minutes. "When we decided to build out our virtual care capabilities with the launch of UleCare.com, we knew we needed to expand these services to reach Iowa's large number of Spanish-speaking individuals," said Dr. Patrick Brophy, assistant vice president of eHealth & Innovation at University of Iowa Health Care.
Not a bad move given that, as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says, "Your healthcare depends on who you are." According to RWJF, "Race and ethnicity continue to influence a patient's chances of receiving many specific healthcare interventions and treatments." According to foundation estimates, Latinos and African-Americans experience 30% to 40% poorer health outcomes than white Americans, leading not only to shortened lives and increased illness, but systemic costs as well. RWJF suggests that health disparities between people of different race and ethnicity cost the national over $60 billion in lost productivity each year.
Part of the problem is accessibility. 35% of Latinos and low-income individuals report having a hard time getting the care they need, compared to just 25% of white Americans. This bears out in statistics like these: The rate of hospitalization for patients with diabetes is twice as high for Latinos than it is for white Americans. Improving accessibility—which means more than just the existence of affordable care but also the provision of language tools—can help put a dent in those costs.
"The launch of this new Spanish-language virtual clinic at UleSalud.com is a significant milestone in improving access," Ralph C. Derrickson, CEO of Carena said. "Like every other industry, healthcare has to adapt to the needs of the consumer. All healthcare is local and this is an example of how we're partnering with innovative health systems to meet the needs of their patients."