Regence and DispatchHealth Partner to Bring Hospital-Level Care to the Home

DENVER and SEATTLE, July 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Regence BlueShield is partnering with DispatchHealth, a leading provider of in-home medical care, to provide Regence members with an advanced level of in-home medical care. This innovative partnership is now available to Regence members in Pierce County, Washington, with plans to expand to more counties throughout the state later this year.

DispatchHealth's in-home Advanced Care is part of Regence's robust alternate site of care strategy. The new partnership offers Regence members experiencing acute medical illness—including cellulitis, kidney and urinary tract infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations, heart failure exacerbations, and many others—the opportunity to be treated safely at home and avoid a hospital visit. In-home care allows patients to receive care and recover in familiar surroundings with family support and access to high-quality care delivery.

"'Hospitalizations in the home' is a groundbreaking and exciting shift in care delivery," said Dr. Drew Oliveira, senior executive medical director at Regence BlueShield. "Our partnership with DispatchHealth enables Regence members to receive clinically appropriate care safely and conveniently in the comfort of their own homes."

Qualifying Regence members admitted to DispatchHealth's Advanced Care at home program will have access to a dedicated DispatchHealth medical team, including 24/7 physician coverage with remote monitoring, an emergency call button, and physician visits. Once a member's acute medical situation is resolved, DispatchHealth continues to support the patient for up to 30 days while working with their primary care providers to seamlessly integrate them back into their normal health care path. 

"The health care landscape is evolving, and non-traditional care strategies are becoming more of the norm as patients' attitudes have driven this shift over time," said Dr. Mark Prather, chief executive officer and co-founder of DispatchHealth. "Additionally, innovative health plans like Regence understand that more in-home care delivery truly achieves the quadruple aim of improving affordability, health outcomes, patient experience, and provider experience—while also reducing readmissions."

DispatchHealth's Advanced Care at home service also enables the coordination of additional supports, such as pharmacy and meal deliveries, physical and respiratory therapy, Durable Medical Equipment (DME) access, and imaging services. For more information, visit DispatchHealth.com.

About Regence
Regence serves approximately 3.3 million people through its health plans in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Each Regence health plan is a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers nationwide experience health care. For more information, please visit regence.com.

About DispatchHealth
DispatchHealth is building the world's largest in-home care system in order to deliver trusted and compassionate care to all. DispatchHealth offers on-demand acute care and an advanced level of medical care for people of all ages in the comfort of their own homes. DispatchHealth's emergency medicine and internal medicine trained medical teams are equipped with all the tools necessary to treat common to complex injuries and illnesses. DispatchHealth works closely with payers, providers, health systems, EMS, employer groups and others to deliver care in the home to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits, hospital stays and readmissions. Acute Care medical teams are available seven days a week, evenings and holidays and can be requested via app, online or a quick phone call. DispatchHealth is partnered with most major insurance companies. For more information, visit DispatchHealth.com.

SOURCE DispatchHealth