New Partnership Provides Around-the-Clock Access to Virtual Care

Hackensack Meridian Health joins forces with K Health to offer 24/7 access to doctors.

Hackensack Meridian Health is launching a 24/7 virtual care service.

Telehealth expanded exponentially during the coronavirus pandemic, and telehealth visits remain high compared to pre-pandemic levels. Having 24/7 telehealth services is relatively rare, but this health system is working to change that.

Hackensack Meridian Health has launched HMH 24/7, a 24/7 virtual care service, in a partnership with K Health.

"K Health, which is providing the app for HMH 24/7, is now a part of our medical group," says Daniel Varga, MD, chief physician executive for Hackensack Meridian Health. "So, HMH 24/7 is the doctors that K Health convenes, and they are part of our employed medical group."

The HMH 24/7 app includes an artificial intelligence component.

"We use an AI model in the app that allows a significant amount of information to be gleaned in a simple dialogue with the patient," Varga says. "You can use the app, get a chief complaint as well as get background and demographics from the patient, then the app populates a document for the physician."

Hackensack Meridian Health is expecting HMH 24/7 to provide "three tiers" of care for patients, according to Varga.

1. Virtual medical practice: The first tier is creating the virtual medical practice of Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group. If needed, the health system will continue to do practice-specific telehealth visits. Moving forward, the health system will build around the HMH 24/7 platform. Anybody in the community can download the app and make an appointment to see a doctor through HMH 24/7, which is a pure virtual care model.

2. Bridge model: One of the biggest things that health systems and hospitals struggle with is emergency department discharge and readmission as well as hospital discharge and readmission. One of the obstacles to high performance in those areas is the ability to access a follow-up appointment quickly. With HMH 24/7, if there is an emergency department patient, and the ED physician would like the patient to have follow-up within 48 hours, the patient can download the HMH 24/7 app in the ED and make an appointment with HMH 24/7 before they leave the ED.

If there is a patient who has an established primary care physician, but it is going to take a week for the patient to see the PCP post-discharge, the health system can get the patient a bridge appointment by connecting them with HMH 24/7. When the patient gets in to see their PCP, the HMH 24/7 physician has documented the bridge appointment in the health system's electronic medical record. That way, the patient encounter with the HMH 24/7 physician is already in the patient workflow.

3. Wraparound services: The third tier is to build HMH 24/7 as a wraparound for the medical group that can provide 24/7 services to patients. A patient of a doctor who is a member of the Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group can call the doctor and get connected to HMH 24/7. If the patient needs a doctor's visit, they can be immediately connected with a doctor through HMH 24/7, and the doctor can see the patient right then.

Benefits of HMH 24/7

Hackensack Meridian Health expects HMH 24/7 will improve transitions of care and limit readmissions, according to Varga.

"Where we hope HMH 24/7 will affect daily operations is particularly in transitions of care," Varga says. "When we are trying to get patients from the hospital to home or emergency department to home, HMH 24/7 can provide the appropriate medical oversight."

The around-the-clock access to care that HMH 24/7 will provide is a leap forward for Hackensack Meridian Health, Varga explains.

"We don't offer standard virtual visits after 4 p.m., and we don't offer standard virtual visits on weekends," Varga says.

Varga says HMH 24/7 should improve care for patients who visit Hackensack Meridian Health's emergency departments.

"For established patients, we are looking to provide bridge visits between the ED visits and when the patient can get in to see their primary care physician," Varga says. "For patients who do not have an established primary care physician with us, the HMH 24/7 practice can provide a primary care physician until the patients need someone to lay hands on them in an in-person visit. This enables us to provide continuity of care."

Varga provides three examples of how HMH 24/7 can connect patients to primary care through a seamless integration of virtual and in-person care.

First, there is the HMH 24/7 patient who is young and healthy and does not want to go in to get a complete physical with a primary care physician. At least 25% of New Jersey residents do not have a PCP. So, there are many patients for whom HMH 24/7 can act as the primary care doctor.

Second, for patients who already have a primary care physician through Hackensack Meridian Health, HMH 24/7 can be the after-hours and wraparound connection to their PCPs.

Third, for the patients who are discharged from the ED or the hospital, HMH 24/7 can connect those patients to a doctor then hand them off to a primary care physician.