SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — AristaMD, innovative provider of the cloud-based eConsult Platform for primary care physicians and specialists, today announced that the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) has selected AristaMD as their state-wide eConsult enterprise partner. The CHCACT will initially deploy AristaMD’s eConsult Platform to five Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), with plans to extend the solution to all of its 16 member health centers later in 2017.
With specialist shortages predicted to reach 28,000 to 64,000 by 2025, patients nationwide will be increasingly impacted by this reduced access to specialty care. To help address this issue, CHCACT will leverage AristaMD’s Smart Care Platform to empower Connecticut’s primary care physicians to provide enhanced patient care through 200+ evidence-based clinical work-up checklists; eConsults with AristaMD’s contracted panel of national, board-certified specialists covering 35 specialty and subspecialty areas; and usability insights to optimize care collaboration and specialty referral triage.
“After a thorough review of vendors, we chose AristaMD’s end-to-end eConsult solution because it was a clear win-win-win for patients, providers and the state as a whole,” said Rob Rioux, network director of CHCACT. “Our patients, 63 percent of whom are covered by Medicaid, will gain expanded access to much-needed specialty care. Our providers will be better able to treat their patients as ‘whole people’ while also benefiting from additional knowledge and experience. Lastly, our state government will realize significant cost savings by decreasing avoidable emergency room visits and inpatient stays.”
The initial rollout of AristaMD’s scalable eConsult platform will include five FQHCS across 29 sites: First Choice Health Centers, Optimus Health Care, Southwest Community Health Center, StayWell Heath Center and Wheeler Clinic. These five health centers serve over 120,000 Connecticut residents, with the planned statewide implementation to reach approximately 300,000 residents at 16 FQHCs across 97 sites.
“AristaMD recognizes that the underserved population is often the hardest hit when healthcare crises occur,” said Rebecca Cofinas, CEO of AristaMD. “They typically face a limited number of specialists willing to see those covered by Medicaid, as well as inordinate time and distance challenges to travel to the few specialists available. Our cloud-based Smart Care Platform speaks directly to that issue by allowing primary care physicians to quickly and easily integrate eConsults into their care model, offering patients specialist insights within the familiarity and convenience of their general practitioner’s office — all of which contributes to more timely, efficient and higher quality care.”
Providers consistently see fast, quantifiable results in care quality and delivery when using AristaMD’s comprehensive eConsult solution, with 85 percent of primary care providers using the Smart Care Platform reporting that it significantly impacts the care plan. Additionally, AristaMD’s data demonstrates that eConsults replace the need for a specialist visit in over 50 percent of the time.
“Not only is Connecticut the first state in the nation to reimburse fee-for-service (FFS) for eConsults, but it also leads the nation in safety net providers,” said Rioux. “Knowing AristaMD’s depth of expertise with FQHCs, as well as their shared commitment to delivering better care to the underserved population, we were confident that AristaMD was the right partner to help us – and the state of Connecticut – bring specialty care to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents across the state, with the goal of enhancing patient outcomes, satisfaction and engagement. We look forward to continuing our efforts with state officials to further extend this innovative care delivery model to more FQHCs and beyond.”
About CHCACT
The Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening and supporting federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) across Connecticut in their work to provide quality, comprehensive health care to Connecticut residents. Connecticut’s FQHCs serve 376,000 patients annually – one out of every ten residents.
About AristaMD
AristaMD, innovative provider of the cloud-based Smart Care Platform for primary care physicians and specialists, transforms the delivery of care by empowering primary care physicians (PCPs) with evidence-based clinical work-up checklists, eConsults, an expert national panel of specialists and usability insights to optimize care collaboration and specialty referral triage while ensuring fully documented care transitions. Leveraging proven clinical guidelines, developed at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the physician-designed solution enables greater patient access to efficient, specialty care via the PCP with eConsult or, when appropriate, with referrals to in-person specialist care.
Designed to seamlessly integrate into clinical workflows, the scalable platform allows payers and providers to quickly and cost-effectively launch specialist eConsults using their own specialists or those provided by AristaMD’s contracted panel of board-certified panel of specialists. Committed to driving better health outcomes, AristaMD partners with healthcare stakeholders to ensure their success in the transition to value-based care. For more information, visit www.aristamd.com or connect with us @AristaMD.