At-Home Care in the Face of the Pandemic and the Seasonal Flu

For adults over 65, flu season can bring a significant risk of serious complications. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about new concerns, including overwhelmed hospitals. A well-known payer recognized the need for immediate changes to reduce hospitalizations through digital and remote solutions.

With the threat of COVID-19 colliding with the flu, the payer approached Truepill to collaborate on the Well At Home program: an at-home care program designed to preemptively address the financial and human toll caused by the flu, and exacerbated by COVID-19.

Uniting the disparate pieces of healthcare

The health insurance payer and Truepill created an industry-first partnership. We aimed to deliver effective at-home diagnosis and treatment within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms– before illness could advance to a critical state.

We pulled in a few of our solutions to support rapid & efficient deployment, including:

• Telehealth network to coordinate virtual patient appointments
• Proprietary EMR to capture patient information
• Pharmacy fulfillment for both prophylactic dispensing and delivery
• White-labeled kits that include medications and diagnostic tests
• Dedicated care team to coordinate aftercare

Accessible virtual consults

Every hour counts when a patient is in need of care. Often, a patient may need to wait days to see their physician, but the dedicated telehealth team and pharmacy enabled patients to access care at the onset of symptoms.

This program facilitated a contact-free care experience that was ideal for high-risk members. Members enrolled through the payer-branded portal by completing a questionnaire that started their journey for diagnosis and treatment. All PHI data was securely stored in our proprietary EMR.

Designed with the providers in mind, the EMR enables:

• E-prescribing capabilities
• Visibility into consult history and notes
• Access to PHI and temperature tracking
• Authorization of COVID-19 tests

Upon enrollment, Well At Home providers gained access to a full view of members’ information, and asynchronous telehealth consultations were then automatically scheduled. Within 24 hours of enrollment, providers determined members’ eligibility and wrote a prescription for Tamiflu prophylactically.

Prophylactic care delivered straight to patients

With our nationwide pharmacy, the payer was able to scale this program and deliver care directly to participants’ doorsteps–reducing the risk of exposing themselves or others to infection.

After receiving a white-labeled kit, participants would have access to Tamiflu, a medicine that can treat early flu symptoms. In each kit, members received:

• an at-home COVID-19 PCR test
• a nasal swab, vial, biohazard bag, IFU, return shipping bag with a pre-printed shipping label
• thermometer
• prophylactically-dispensed antiviral flu treatment Oseltamivir (Tamiflu)

At-home care

The payer secured a separate lab partnership to process the tests but our diagnostics arm played a key role in enabling real-time data exchange.

Once tests were returned, providers could diagnose flu or COVID-19 cases. We received results from the payer through our EMR, and then communicated them to program participants.

Next steps and after-care could be offered to patients who needed it. The program was expanded with additional customer service offerings for those who were mildly sick, such as providing antibody infusions or home visits from registered nurses. As new therapies become available, the program could add new services that improved the overall end-to-end patient experience.

A patient experience driven by integrated care

The result? Impactful care for thousands of vulnerable members. The incorporation of our offerings allowed the health insurance company and its members to start reimagining preventative care moving forward.

The Well At Home program is a blueprint for how at-home health kits could be utilized across multiple disease states. This kind of proactivity can save patients from more serious conditions down the road.