Author: CPCACO

VieMed’s clinically proven care model being deployed in Arizona to improve outcomes in patients with impaired respiratory function

Lafayette, Louisiana (February 11, 2021) – Viemed Healthcare, Inc. (the “Company” or “Viemed”) (TSX: VMD.TO and NASDAQ:VMD), a home medical equipment supplier that provides post-acute respiratory care services in the United States, announced an innovative alliance with Commonwealth Primary Care ACO, LLC (“Commonwealth”) to bring VieMed’s best-in-class home respiratory equipment, services and technologies to Commonwealth’s independent physicians and the patients they serve.

VieMed has a primary focus on Non-Invasive Ventilation at home (NIVH) and recently announced a completed NIVH study led by Dr. William Frazier, VieMed’s Chief Medical Officer. The study evaluated clinical outcomes in COPD patients with chronic respiratory failure (COPD-CRF) treated with NIVH compared to similar patients with COPD-CRF who did not receive NIVH.

The highlights of the results are as follows:

• The group treated with NIVH had a 50% decrease in all-cause mortality during the study period
• The group treated with NIVH had a 28% decline in the risk of hospitalizations
• The group treated with NIVH had a 52% reduction in the risk of an emergency room visits

Along with NIVH, VieMed’s care model includes supplemental oxygen testing and supplies, remote physiological monitoring, and sleep apnea care programs.  VieMed has become a national leader in respiratory care management by integrating a high-touch service model with respiratory equipment.  By putting patients first and investing in its employees, technologies and processes, VieMed’s care model maintains some of the lowest COPD hospital readmission rates.  Accordingly, VieMed is an important component in Commonwealth’s strategy to further improve its already exceptional all-cause unplanned admission rates.

The alliance with VieMed is expected to bring Commonwealth’s independent physicians patient care that is differentiated through high-touch, personalized, respiratory disease management. VieMed is expected to further Commonwealth’s mission to provide exceptional health care outcomes and patient satisfaction, while providing systemic savings.

Services to Commonwealth patients will now include:

    •  24/7 on-call support from COPD-certified Respiratory Therapists

    •  Remote Physiological Monitoring and Patient Engagement technologies

    •  In-home, personalized assessments, equipment setups, care plans, and education

    •  Integrated Chronic Care Management

    •  Transitional care and compliance programs to optimize adherence and reduce readmissions

Commonwealth’s physicians and patients will also benefit from sleep testing administered in the patient’s home offered through Home Sleep Delivered (“HSD”), a VieMed subsidiary. HSD is a significant provider of home sleep tests and offers safety, convenience, savings, and continuity of care through innovations such as disposable home sleep tests, referrals for Auto-PAP therapy, and robust remote support for care management and resupplies.

“Commonwealth’s alliance with VieMed creates an outstanding opportunity for us to bring exceptional independent physician care to their respiratory patients. VieMed is driving change in our organization with proven results and I’m excited to see the difference they can make with our patients in Arizona”, said Lance Donkerbrook, CEO of Commonwealth.

VieMed’s CEO, Casey Hoyt, believes the alliance between VieMed and Commonwealth can have a real impact in Arizona, “Commonwealth ACO has done a tremendous job providing their member physicians the proper balance between quality healthcare and cost. I’m excited to see the value VieMed can add to their network and the impact our proven care-continuum can have on their patients”.

About VieMed Healthcare, Inc.

VieMed, through its indirect wholly owned subsidiaries Sleep Management, L.L.C. and Home Sleep Delivered, L.L.C., is a home medical equipment supplier that provides post-acute respiratory care services in the United States. Sleep Management, L.L.C. focuses on disease management and improving the quality of life for respiratory patients through clinical excellence, education, and technology. Its service offerings are based on effective home treatment with respiratory care practitioners providing therapy and counseling to patients in their homes using cutting edge technology. Home Sleep Delivered, L.L.C. focuses on providing in-home sleep testing for sleep apnea sufferers. Visit our website at www.viemed.com or https://homesleepdelivered.com/.

About Commonwealth Primary Care ACO, LLC

Commonwealth is based in Tempe, AZ and is a collaboration of independent providers who seek to enhance the quality of healthcare while decreasing costs and improving outcomes for patients in Arizona. Commonwealth is primary care based, owned, operated, and governed. Implimentation of innovative care programs will assure the continuous success of its independent offices and for the benefit of the patients it serves. To accomplish this, Commonwealth provides not only business support and best practices, it also collects and analyzes data that helps physicians coordinate care and increase communication. Commonwealth operates as a federally chartered Accountable Care Organization serving the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, Flagstaff, Tucson and throughout AZ as a participant in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Forward-Looking Statements

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All statements other than statements of historical fact, including those that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the Company’s current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to the Company, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. These factors include, without limitation: the general business, market and economic conditions in the regions in which the Company operates; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken by governmental authorities, individuals and companies in response to the pandemic on our business, financial condition and results of operations, including on the Company’s patient base and revenues, employees, and equipment and supplies; the Company may be subject to significant capital requirements and operating risks; the ability of the Company to implement business strategies and pursue business opportunities; volatility in the market price of shares in the capital of the Company; the Company’s novel business model; the risk that the clinical application of treatments that demonstrate positive results in a study may not be positively replicated or that such test results may not be predictive of actual treatment results or may not result in the adoption of such treatments by providers; the state of the capital markets; the availability of funds and resources to pursue operations; decline of reimbursement rates; dependence on few payors; possible new drug discoveries; dependence on key suppliers; granting of permits and licenses in a highly regulated business; competition; low profit market segments; disruptions in or attacks (including cyber-attacks) on the Company’s information technology, internet, network access or other voice or data communications systems or services; the evolution of various types of fraud or other criminal behavior to which the Company is exposed; the failure of third parties to comply with their obligations; difficulty integrating newly acquired businesses; the impact of new and changes to, or application of, current laws and regulations; the overall difficult litigation and regulatory environment; increased competition; changes in foreign currency rates; increased funding costs and market volatility due to market illiquidity and competition for funding; critical accounting estimates and changes to accounting standards, policies, and methods used by the Company; the impact of the previously disclosed restatement and correction of the Company’s previously issued financial statements; the previously disclosed identified material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and the Company’s ability to remediate that material weakness; the initiation of legal or regulatory proceedings with respect to the restatement and corrections; the adverse effects on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price, as a result of the restatement and correction process; the Company’s status as an emerging growth company and a foreign private issuer; and the occurrence of natural and unnatural catastrophic events or health epidemics or concerns, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and claims resulting from such events or concerns; as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Company’s disclosure documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, including the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada available at www.sedar.com. Should any factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, the Company does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, other than as required by applicable law.

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Healthcare Innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic has spared no facet of the healthcare ecosystem, but its impact on small physician practices might have hit the hardest. As noted in a recent Kaiser Health News piece, “Although no one tracks medical closures, recent research suggests they number in the thousands. A survey by the Physicians Foundation estimated that 8 percent of all physician practices nationally— around 16,000—have closed under the stress of the pandemic. That survey didn’t break them down by type, but another from the Virginia-based Larry A. Green Center and the Primary Care Collaborative found in late September that 7 percent of primary care practices were unsure they could stay open past December without financial assistance.”

Undoubtedly, independent physicians are looking for a lifeline, and many have recognized that traditional fee-for-service payment environments aren’t sustainable in this chaotic healthcare landscape. To succeed in a value-based care and payment environment, while also remaining independent, however, these practices know they will need to be equipped with the right resources and technology.

To this end, Commonwealth Primary Care ACO, an accountable care organization in Arizona with 26 offices and more than 100 providers, has been committed to keeping its physicians independent. That’s why they recently announced they are partnering with Equality Health, a Phoenix-based population health risk management company, with the aim to empower their physicians with value-based care technology and practice transformation services.

Commonwealth leaders contend the ACO has a proven track record of providing high-quality value-based care through its participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), recently ranking in the 94^th percentile for quality. By partnering with Equality Health, Commonwealth aims to replicate key successes achieved in the MSSP in its value-based arrangements with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans.

Now entering its eighth year in the MSSP, Commonwealth’s CEO Lance Donkerbrook, says the organization started off “as a grassroots effort, with a bunch of local, independent physicians who were awarded an ACO, and then didn’t really know what to do with it.” He explains that these doctors had long wanted to find a way for primary care physicians to collaborate, but most of their relationships were with specialists who they referred patients to, rather than with other PCPs. “So, very rarely did they have significant data or a meaningful process to help them put everything [about the patient] together,” Donkerbrook recalls.

As such, Commonwealth began to put the pieces in place by getting data from Medicare, which was a step above what the physicians had prior. Then over the course of the last several years, Commonwealth has found technology partners and other groups—spearheaded by Donkerbrook’s connections having previously worked in the technology and software development space—that either wanted to learn more about ACOs, or were willing to develop an analytics tool for the ACO space, for instance. “So we were able to cobble together a [data] infrastructure to help get us going and give us information that we’ve never really had before,” Donkerbrook recounts.

From there, Donkerbrook says the ACO hit somewhat of a turning point as the market shifted to more value-based arrangements and providers taking on risk. “So we needed to up our game, and up the level of tools and technology that we had for our providers. And while we’ve been able to put together some good tools for analytics, for clinical data, and for secure messaging, it’s been enough to get us by, but at this point in time it’s not enough to get us to the next level,” he acknowledges, admitting that still, “independent physician practices face a number of significant challenges in managing the transition to value-based care, including assuming greater financial risk and improving care coordination.”

A population health breakthrough?

Enter Equality Health, as Commonwealth’s independent physicians will work with Equality’s management services organization (MSO), which offers clinical, technological, network, and financial management solutions that help make it easier for providers to profitably assume risk, officials say.

Lisa Stevens Anderson, president of Equality Health’s MSO division, notes that the tools and services that have been designed “have been purposeful to complement the primary care practices, not supersede them.” She further explains that the organization has developed technology that’s used by national payers, and there are instances of that technology for Equality’s provider contracts. “So we are standardizing the value-based workflow for those practices, [meaning] they no longer have to keep track of everything for 10 or 20 different contracts. By standardizing the value-based contracts, we standardize the value-based workflow through our technology to the practices, and that creates efficiencies within the practices that have very limited resources,” Stevens Anderson contends.

In addition to the technology, Equality’s care management resources are specifically designed to be extenders of the primary care practices and complement those services, Stevens Anderson adds. She notes that specific services include: pharmacy support, medication reconciliation and management, and a very heavy concentration on social determinants of health, with providers screening for SDOH.

What’s more, Equality also provides wraparound services with community health workers, social workers, chaplains, and a network of community-based nonprofit organizations to fulfill those needs that primary care practices can identify, but just lack the time or resources to follow up with each and every one of those patients. All these services are communicated back to the primary care offices, and through Equality’s technology, the primary care offices have visibility into everything that’s going on. “So, they go to that [data] when those members show up in their practices again. Everybody’s operating off the same sheet of music,” Stevens Anderson says.

Donkerbrook says one key goal for 2021 in this area is to enable a consistent, yet simple process for Commonwealth’s physicians by bringing all different hospital and payer data together on a single platform through Equality, and have the ability to look at one source as often as possible. “So the [idea] is to not have to look on this tool for one payer, and another tool for a hospital system. That’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, but I think that as we can prove that this process is working and these tools with Equality are working, we’ll be able to consolidate that more and more,” he says.

Working for the independent physician

Beyond the technology component, successful ACOs need to create a high-value culture and be true to their mission. For Commonwealth, Donkerbrook says that “the foundation for everything we do, and really the reason that we exist, is to support the independent physician.”

He adds, “Whenever we talk with our staff, or look at what the priorities are for the day, or whether or not we should do something, the questions that always comes back to us are: Does this benefit the independent physician? Does it somehow make their life easier, and does it benefit their patients in some way? That’s guiding force behind everything. From there, we want to be a champion for the independent physician throughout Arizona, and to be a model to share with likeminded organizations,” he says.

Stevens Anderson adds that Equality was formed first to provide a partner to and help independent practices be successful in the evolving landscape of value-based care, and second, to be that partner for payers that haven’t invested the time to really understand what independent practices need to be successful. To that end, she notes, “What Commonwealth—a small organization of independent practices—has done in the last eight years, in this market of a lot of big gorillas, has been quite remarkable. The reason I believe that they’ve been so successful is because the providers are owners; they are invested in the success of the organization.”

Collaboration enables independent practices in Arizona to leverage technology, services and support to enhance value-based care delivery.

Check out the original article here: Cision PR Newswire.

NEWS PROVIDED BY Equality Health 

Dec 04, 2020, 07:00 ET

PHOENIX, Dec. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Equality Health, a whole-health delivery system, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Commonwealth Primary Care ACO. The arrangement will provide Commonwealth’s independent physician practices with access to Equality Health’s bundled solution of technology, services, and support for managing its transition to value-based care. Further, it will expand Equality Health’s partnerships with high-performing, high-quality care providers and expand the opportunity to provide whole-person care for Medicare and Medicaid populations throughout Arizona.

Commonwealth is a 26-office, 100-provider Accountable Care Organization (ACO) in Arizona. It has a proven track record of providing high-quality value-based care through its participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), recently ranking in the 94^th percentile for quality. By partnering with Equality Health, Commonwealth aims to replicate key successes achieved in the MSSP in its value-based arrangements with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans.

Commonwealth’s independent physicians will work with Equality Health’s management services organization (MSO), which offers clinical, technological, network, and financial management solutions that allow providers to profitably assume risk and improve quality and patient satisfaction.

“Commonwealth is a champion for independent practitioners in Arizona’s healthcare community with their localized approach to care and emphasis on the physician-patient relationship,” said Lisa Stevens Anderson, President, Equality Health’s MSO division. “Equality Health is delighted to partner with Commonwealth in building on their success and our common goal of advancing whole-person, value-based care. We are on a quest to reshape the future of healthcare by supporting providers on their journey towards value, and we look forward to working with Commonwealth as part of that larger effort.”

“Independent physician practices face a number of significant challenges in managing the transition to value-based care, including assuming greater financial risk and improving care coordination,” said Lance Donkerbrook, CEO, Commonwealth Primary Care ACO. “Equality Health has all of the necessary tools and expertise to help us through that transition. As we enter into 2021 and kickoff our partnership with Equality Health, we’re excited to continue our growth and trailblaze value-based care throughout Arizona.”

About Equality Health
Equality Health, LLC is a Phoenix-based whole-health delivery system focused on transforming value-based care delivery with population specific programs that improve access, quality, and member trust. Through an integrated technology and services platform, culturally competent provider network and personalized care model, Equality Health helps managed care plans and health systems improve outcomes for diverse populations while simultaneously making the transition to risk-based accountability. For more information about Equality Health, visit www.equalityhealth.com or follow @EqualityHealth on Facebook, @EqualityHealth on Twitter, and @EqualityHealth on LinkedIn.

About Commonwealth Primary Care ACO
Commonwealth Primary Care ACO is a collaborative partnership of independent physicians in Phoenix and throughout Arizona. The focus of Commonwealth is to afford its participants with the opportunity to develop the competencies and the capabilities to effectively manage quality and cost. Commonwealth evolved from the mutual interest of its network participants to promote quality care, drive care efficiencies, and engage patients in coordinated care. The ACO staff and its participants are committed to coordinating and sharing resources with our practices and beneficiaries members to achieve these goals. For more information, visit www.commonwealthaco.com or follow Commonwealth Primary Care ACO on Facebook.

Media Contact:
Terri Pollock
Amendola Communications (for Equality Health)
504-339-1242
tpollock@acmarketingpr.com 

SOURCE Equality Health

NAPLES, Fla., Oct. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — HealthLynked Corp. (OTCQB: HLYK), a global healthcare network focused on care management of its members and healthcare technologies connecting doctors, patients and medical data, today announced its collaboration with Commonwealth Primary Care ACO (“Commonwealth”). HealthLynked and Commonwealth will develop an innovative program to seamlessly share patient healthcare data among multiple providers. The goal of the partnership is to improve patient care, decrease duplicative testing and fill information gaps that exist between multiple providers treating the same patient.

Without accurate and up-to-date medical information, healthcare providers are often at a disadvantage in providing the best care for their patients. Patients often undergo duplicate testing and have longer in-office wait times to obtain medical records and are subject to a process that often leads to additional and unnecessary follow up visits and delays in diagnosis and treatment.

As more patients are seeing their healthcare providers via telemedicine, coordinating care among healthcare providers is more important than ever. Both online patient evaluation and care management are now reimbursable billing codes for private insurance companies and for Medicare. Reimbursement for these services is based on medical record exchange between providers and patients, including time spent reviewing records with each patient. To facilitate this process, there are nine separate billable codes available to the offices supporting the effort with reimbursements ranging from $16 to $53. There is no limit on the number of times a patient’s record can be reviewed and exchanged between a healthcare provider and patient.

The HealthLynked Network and patient engagement technology is uniquely designed to allow physicians to easily connect with patients, exchange medical information, and provide patient guidance in partnership with Commonwealth. We believe that this partnership will be a model for other ACOs to improve outcomes, reduce cost, and more effectively coordinate patient care.

“We are excited to employ new and effective methods to provide our clinicians with the most complete and up-to-date data on their patients. Many times, patients are being treated by multiple physicians in multiple settings and HealthLynked will allow us to seamlessly analyze all encounter data, coordinate care more effectively and deliver the most effective care at the right time and place,” said Dr. Mark Goldberg, a Commonwealth Member of the Board of Trustees.

HealthLynked’s CEO, Dr. Michael Dent, stated, “Working with Commonwealth to fill data gaps inpatient care will optimize patient care and improve practice efficiencies. We believe this is the first of many collaborations and will serve as a model to work with other ACO partners.”

About HealthLynked Corp.

HealthLynked Corp. provides a solution for both patient members and providers to improve healthcare through the efficient exchange of medical information. The HealthLynked Network is a cloud-based platform that allows members to connect with their healthcare providers and take more control of their healthcare. Members enter their medical information, including medications, allergies, past surgeries and personal health records, in one convenient online and secure location, free of charge. Participating healthcare providers can connect with their current and future patients through the system. Benefits to in-network providers include the ability to utilize the HealthLynked patent-pending patient access hub “PAH” for patient analytics. Other benefits for preferred providers include HLYK marketing tools to connect with their active and inactive patients to improve patient retention, access more accurate and current patient information, provide more efficient online scheduling and to fill last-minute cancelations using the Company’s “real-time appointment scheduling” all within its mobile application. Preferred providers pay a monthly fee to access these HealthLynked services. For additional information about HealthLynked Corp., please visit www.healthlynked.com and connect with HealthLynked on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Source:Sonora Quest Laboratories

(TEMPE, AZ) July 20, 2017 – Commonwealth Primary Care Accountable Care Organization (ACO) has selected Sonora Quest Laboratories to be the preferred provider of diagnostic testing for their patients in Arizona. The partnership will streamline patient care and improve communication between Sonora Quest Laboratories and Commonwealth ACO’s network of providers, bringing increased information and educational resources to patients and their doctors.

Commonwealth Primary Care ACO is a collaboration of 130 independent providers who seek to enhance the quality of healthcare while decreasing costs, and improving patient outcomes for Medicare patients in Arizona. To do this, Commonwealth Primary Care ACO collects and analyzes data that helps physicians coordinate care and increase communication.

Sonora Quest Laboratories will assist in this mission by utilizing their propriety suite of Population Health analytics solutions to provide actionable information to Commonwealth using near real time and historical laboratory data. With this tool, Commonwealth can assist providers to close gaps in care, identify risk within patient populations and track individual patients facing chronic conditions including diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Commonwealth’s CEO Dr. Curtis Page noted, “We are thrilled to partner with Sonora Quest Laboratories. They have the technology and reliability of one of the largest labs in the nation, but retain a focus on the local market in Arizona. This will allow our physicians to see unique insights on a patient’s diagnostic history so that they can better tailor their care.”

Sonora Quest Laboratories CEO David Dexter added, “This partnership supports our vision, ‘To Be the Trusted Leader in Diagnostics and Information Services’, by using real time data analytics to support population health management and coordinated care, enabling Commonwealth to improve patient healthcare outcomes at lower cost. We will collaborate and innovate together to create and refine best-in-class diagnostic analytics, providing Commonwealth’s Clinical Care team with information that will improve clinical quality and patient satisfaction here in Arizona.”

About Sonora Quest Laboratories
Sonora Quest Laboratories, a joint venture between Banner Health and Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), is part of the nation’s largest integrated laboratory system with approximately 3,000 employees serving more than 23,000 patients every day throughout Arizona. Sonora Quest Laboratories is the market share leader in clinical laboratory testing in Arizona, performing more than 60 million diagnostic tests per year. Sonora Quest Laboratories offers a local comprehensive test menu which encompasses routine, molecular, prescription drug monitoring, cytogenetic, and pathology testing services. Ninety-eight percent of all testing is performed at primary testing facilities located in Tempe, Tucson, Flagstaff, Prescott and Yuma. Sonora Quest Laboratories is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) which is the gold standard in laboratory accreditation, helping laboratories to maintain accuracy of test results and ensure accurate patient diagnosis. This accreditation ensures the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients as CAP inspectors examine laboratory staff qualifications, equipment, facilities, safety program and records, and overall management. 

About Commonwealth Primary Care ACO
Commonwealth Primary Care ACO (CPCACO), is a primary-care founded, governed, owned and operated Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACO. Their provider base consists of over 130 Primary Care Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants. CPCACO has over 15,000 assigned MSSP beneficiaries and an additional 30,000 members in Commercial and Medicaid ACO programs. Commonwealth Primary Care ACO operates throughout the state of Arizona, with many of their physicians in the Phoenix metropolitan area. CPCACO has demonstrated success in their ACO programs by improving cost and quality metrics and strives to be an organization that supports the success of independent primary care. www.commonwealthaco.com