LAS VEGAS – Fresh off a visit to the White House and a shout-out at this year’s American Telemedicine Association conference, American Well President and CEO Roy Schoenberg is eager to keep the momentum going for his Online Care product.
Schoenberg was in Las Vegas last month at America’s Health Insurance Plans Institute 2010 to tout the company’s latest two successes: a new contract with Indianapolis-based WellPoint, Inc., the nation’s largest health benefits company by medical membership, and an announcement that BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York have gone live with the Online Care platform.
"What we’ve done here is introduced a whole new dimension to healthcare," Schoenberg said. "We are the magic glue in the middle," allowing healthcare providers and patients to work out care delivery "on their own terms."
The Boston-based firm’s product essentially creates an online portal through which patients can contact physicians immediately, from their homes, by video, phone or secure chat. The company contracts with health plans to set up the portal, which creates a network of credentialed physicians from the plans’ established provider networks who can review clinical information, chat with the patient, prescribe medication and suggest follow-up care.
WellPoint plans to roll out the Online Care provider platform to select markets in its 34-million-member network by the fourth quarter of this year.
"WellPoint is committed to helping improve the access of all Americans to quality, affordable healthcare," said Dijuana Lewis, executive vice president and chief executive officer of WellPoint’s Comprehensive Health Solutions business. "We recognize the need for healthcare to become more accessible and convenient than ever before, especially for individuals living in rural areas. We are pleased to work with American Well in the development of this new option."
"Providing more people with access to insurance – a primary goal of healthcare reform – was just the beginning," added Alphonso O’Neill-White, president and CEO of BCBSWNY/BSNENY, at AHIP. "Through Online Care NY, our plans are addressing the very real need to transform how, when and where they receive care. Without it, physicians will become even more overwhelmed while patients ignore healthcare needs or continue to inappropriately use urgent care. Now, both physicians and patients alike have an option that better meets their changing needs.
" While contracting with health plans – American Well has had successful launches in Hawaii and Minnesota, among other locations, as well as the St. Louis-based Ascension Health network – remains the core of the company’s business, Schoenberg said he’s excited to see American Well head in two new directions.
The company has developed a platform for physicians’ offices, called Online Care Team Addition, that allows physicians to link with specialists and patients; and is also offering Online Care to its first large employer, Delta Air Lines, through a partnership with Golden Valley, Minn.-based OptumHealth.
In addition, American Well signed an agreement in April with Rite Aid, paving the way for Online Care portals in select Rite Aid pharmacies around the country. The arrangement, the first between American Well and a drugstore chain, brings pharmacists into the Online Care loop.
"Frankly, there are more pharmacies close to where people live than there are emergency rooms," Schoenberg pointed out.
