Dive Brief:
- Intermountain Healthcare went live on American Well’s online care marketplace, known as the Exchange, the organizations announced Tuesday.
- Through the Exchange, the Salt Lake City-based health system will make its nurse practitioners and physician assistants available for telehealth visits on Amwell.
- The service launched in Utah and will soon be available in Idaho as well. Intermountain Healthcare already serves its patients and communities through Connect Care, an on-demand telehealth offering for low-level conditions.
Dive Insight:
William Daines, medical director for Connect Care, said the exchange enables organizations like Intermountain Healthcare to serve populations they otherwise wouldn’t reach. Healthcare providers — such as health systems, health plans, employers and retailers — can connect and exchange services instantly online.
By joining the Exchange, Intermountain builds out its telehealth program. In addition to Connect Care, the health system offers tele-ICU services at 12 of its own hospitals and five non-system hospitals. The service is also being tested at two rural critical access hospitals without ICUs, and Intermountain plans to expand the service to five additional rural hospitals.
“One of our goals after high quality of care is to allow people to stay in their community when that’s possible,” William Beninati, medical director for telecritical care at Intermountain, told Healthcare Dive earlier this year.
With HHS planning to tie 50% of Medicare payments to alternative payment models by the end of next year, more and more providers see telehealth as a way to expand access to quality care while holding down costs. In November, NewYork-Presbyterian inked a deal with American Well to integrate online doctor visits with the NYP OnDemand digital health platform.
Legislation in Texas is expected to expand telehealth services in the state. Under the bill, patients and doctors can establish a relationship without an in-person visit or having another healthcare provider present with the patient.
American Well was on target to end 2016 with more than 70 health system partnerships. The Boston-based company launched the Exchange in May 2016 with Cleveland Clinic, LiveHealth Online from Anthem and Nemours Children’s Health System.