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GuideWell Offering House Calls with Launch of In-Home Primary Care

Collaboration with PopHealthCare’s Emcara Health provides vulnerable seniors better health care access and management of their chronic conditions from the comfort of home. 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 9, 2022 GuideWell, the parent of Florida’s leading health insurance plan, is now offering house calls from primary care providers to select Medicare members 17 counties in the Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Southeast Florida, Tampa Bay and Pensacola areas. Through a new collaboration with Emcara Health, eligible members receive the same in-person care they traditionally receive at a doctor’s office in the comfort of their own home.  

“Enabling Medicare members and their caregivers to see their doctors and providers at home — including getting mental well-being support and help enrolling in social programs — removes a number of barriers to accessing care like transportation,” said Camille Harrison, GuideWell executive vice president of Medicare and chief innovation and customer experience officer. “At GuideWell, we are very focused on keeping members healthy as they age by addressing key social determinants of health that impact health outcomes and quality of life, increase patient satisfaction and ultimately control the cost of health care as a whole.”  

The same services as being at a doctor’s office — at home 

Unlike traditional home health services, the providers at Emcara Health can perform most everything a doctor does in their office — including exams, tests, vaccinations and even imaging. The innovative offering is especially beneficial to Medicare members with multiple chronic medical conditions that may require ongoing support, have been in and out of the hospital frequently or have trouble getting to the doctor’s office for an appointment.  

24/7 access to the doctor and nurses patients know and trust  

Emcara Health provides care at home anytime members need it — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even on holidays. Eligible members pay the same amount to Emcara Health as they would for an in-office doctor visit.  

In addition to getting access to a primary care doctor in their homes, members will also receive in-home support from a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner who visits with them between doctor visits; a registered nurse who checks in with them on a regular basis by phone and in person; a community health worker who connects them to local services like transportation and food programs; and a mental health professional for well-being support. 

Expanding in-home care to keep seniors healthy 

Emcara Health is seeing Medicare members in Clay, Duval, St. Johns, Lake, Orange, Seminole, Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Escambia, Okaloosa, and Santa Rosa counties; later this year, they’ll begin seeing patients in Osceola, Polk, Brevard, Marion, Sumter, Charlotte, Collier, and Lee counties. It is the latest collaboration between GuideWell’s Medicare business and PopHealthCare, which operates Emcara Health. 

With the addition of this service, GuideWell now offers a comprehensive variety of home-based care solutions aimed at helping its Medicare members live healthier. For nearly a decade, PopHealthCare has offered other in-home health programs to support members in between primary care visits, and in-home assessments to ensure members receive treatment and support for all their conditions. Seeing members in their home environment can help the care team better understand lifestyle and social factors that impact a person’s overall well-being and proactively work with members and their caregivers to address challenges.  

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with GuideWell to deliver a new level of house call for the most vulnerable seniors in their population- personalized advanced primary care,” said Christopher Dodd, MD, chief medical officer of PopHealthCare. “For the past eight years, Emcara Health has been delivering industry-leading quadruple aim outcomes, including NPS results in the 80s that demonstrate how much our patients love their care teams. Our focus on developing trusting relationships through empathic and empowering care that is aided by an advanced operating platform, has been critical to our consistent delivery of higher quality of care at a lower cost for those most in need.” 

GuideWell’s Medicare plan is the first Medicare plan in Florida to work with Emcara Health.  

About GuideWell 

GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell) is a not-for-profit mutual holding company and the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care. The GuideWell organization includes Florida Blue, the leading health insurance company in Florida; Triple-S Management, a leading health care services company in Puerto Rico; GuideWell Health, a portfolio of clinical delivery organizations; GuideWell Venture Group, a portfolio of companies including Onlife Health and PopHealthCare focused on creating human-first and innovative health solutions for health plans; GuideWell Source, a provider of administrative services to state and federal health care programs; and WebTPA, a market leading administrator of self-funded employer health plans. In total, GuideWell and its affiliated companies serve more than 46 million people in 45 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information, visit www.guidewell.com

About PopHealthCare 

At PopHealthCare, we believe that healthcare should be personal. For us, that means bringing care to those who need it most, where they will be able to achieve their health goals best – at home or where they reside. With 23 clients in 19 states, PopHealthCare offers a fully integrated approach to care delivery, risk adjustment, and quality enhancements, serving the highest risk populations with unwavering commitment and dedication. We are proud to be part of the GuideWell family of companies, transforming the delivery of care through new innovative care models that provide superior health outcomes to patients. 

Contact: 

Toni Woods 

toni.woods@bcbsfl.com


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