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Helping save lives with at-home diagnostics
Stories of Wellness Inspired by a Comprehensive Health Assessment: Helping save lives with at-home diagnostics
We are often told what makes Matrix different is our compassionate care and conversational approach. It is what we strive to offer but it is also who our clinicians are – down-to-earth and passionate about helping people maintain their health and wellness.
And so part of what our clinicians appreciate when conducting Matrix’s Comprehensive Health Assessment (CHA), is it affords them the time in private home environments to give members the undivided attention they deserve to discuss their health and address any social determinants of health (SDOH) factors that may be impacting their quality of life.
One of our nurse practitioners (NP) conducted a CHA for a health plan member who said she hadn’t been feeling well for about a year. She had been experiencing lower leg discomfort and pain, but nothing had been discovered or diagnosed during routine check-ups.
Based on her symptoms, in addition to conducting the overall CHA health and safety review, the NP decided to also administer Matrix’s at-home PAD (Peripheral Artery Disease) test. The test results, which come back immediately, revealed the member did in fact have a diagnosis of PAD. PAD is a leading cause of amputations and individuals with the condition experience a decrease in quality of life due to the severe leg pain it causes. However, by identifying the disease, treatment can start, and long-term complications can potentially be prevented.
The NP facilitated a follow-up discussion between the member and her PCP, and from there she was referred for vascular surgery. Soon after, she had bilateral lower extremity stents placed.
The health plan member shared: “That young man saved my life. I am feeling much better and am happy that I agreed to have a wellness visit.”
The Matrix nurse practitioner shared: “After completing well over five thousand CHA visits within the past ten years, this visit gave me such a warm affirmation that we are saving lives!”
“During a CHA, our clinicians review members’ health and safety and identify and close care gaps. In 2021, over 16,000 CHA visits required urgent escalation to the member’s PCP. We are grateful for our clinicians located across the country doing what they do with kindness and expertise. Wellness visits are invaluable, particularly for preventive care.” – Ryan Heyborne, MD, MBA, FACEP, Matrix Chief Medical Officer.
Helping Members Stay Connected to Their PCPs for Better Health
The Importance of Healthcare System Collaboration: Helping Members Stay Connected to Their PCPs for Better Health
By Ryan Heyborne, MD, MBA, FACEP, Matrix Chief Medical Officer
During our Comprehensive Health Assessment (CHA), we review members’ health and safety and help identify and close care gaps to ensure they continue to get the best care possible based on their needs.
However, another important goal of the CHA is to empower members to proactively manage their own health, and in doing so, maintain a consistent relationship with a primary care provider (PCP).
What we tell the members we serve is that our CHA does not replace the relationships they have with the trusted medical professionals in their life. It augments them by providing access to an extra health check in – in the comfort of their home.
Ensuring continuum of care through collaboration
The CHA is an annual in-depth, in-home visit made available to members by their health plans. It serves as a conduit between PCP appointments to help ensure members are maintaining their best health and any ongoing support they need is being addressed. For our clinicians, this can range from identifying a serious health condition that needs immediate attention to simply offering recommendations to community resources.
For many urgent unmet needs or elevated test results, we call the PCP, so they have the information to follow-up with the member accordingly. When the CHA visit is complete, we send a health status report to both the health plan provider and PCP. And, for members that don’t have a PCP, we make a care management referral and collaborate with their insurance provider to ensure one is established in their area.
Educating members on the value of health maintenance
Offering a more personal in-home health visit is another opportunity to educate members on the importance of taking care of their health and reminds and motivates them to stay connected with their PCPs. And we are seeing they do.
Based on a recent evaluation Matrix conducted, after receiving a CHA, 48 percent of members followed up with a PCP visit within 30 days, 68 percent within 60 days, 78 percent within 90 days, and 84 percent within 120 days. And, of the members who responded to our customer satisfaction survey to date, 96 percent replied “yes” when asked: “Was the visit of overall benefit to you?”.
Providing in-home health points members back to their PCPs
Members often say to us: I have great care, but I really appreciate your second set of eyes.
On behalf of the PCPs responsible for ensuring members stay in their best health and have access to the right care, our clinicians visit members in their homes, sit in their living rooms, and not only evaluate their health and safety but reinforce how much it matters.
It’s a collaborative relationship critical to every member’s health journey.
Learn more about Matrix’s Comprehensive Health Assessments.
Giving members the experience they deserve: empathy and trust
Giving members the experience they deserve: empathy and trust
By Ryan Heyborne, MD, MBA, FACEP, Matrix Chief Medical Officer
When it comes down to it, a valuable member experience during our Comprehensive Health Assessment (CHA) is one where the member feels seen, heard, and understood. In other words, the member feels safe enough to share with the visiting clinician whatever is going on with their health and life circumstances that may be impacting their overall well-being.
According to our dedicated network of clinicians living in member communities across the country, it takes genuine empathy in every situation to ensure members have the meaningful healthcare experience they need and deserve.
Building trust to establish meaningful member engagement
The purpose of our proprietary CHA is to assess health and safety, identify and close gaps in care, and offer life-changing services that activate members to manage their own health.
But there’s more to it than just that.
Our clients tell us our unique difference is the compassionate care and conversational approach our clinicians use while conducting the clinical assessments. Read more on what our clinicians are saying by clicking here.
This approach establishes the trust that encourages members to feel comfortable enough to have us in their home and openly ask questions and talk about their health concerns, so that we can get them the best care possible and potentially uncover serious health conditions at the same time.
Convenience is key to uncovering member health insights
It takes insight and action to ensure a positive member experience. But you need to meet members where they are – in their homes and in their health journeys.
We can complement the work of primary care providers (PCPs), by spending more time in member homes and gaining a unique perspective – a CHA visit offers the chance for our clinicians to take anywhere from 45-60 minutes to get a far better picture of the overall health and safety of members than is likely in a doctor’s office setting alone. For members who don’t have an existing PCP, we connect them to their health plan provider who can assist in getting one assigned.
In addition to seeing what members’ real support systems look like, our clinicians thoroughly review current health, medical history, medication adherence, physical environment, social determinants of health (SDOHs), and other risk factors to provide important member health insights.
Redefining compassionate, comprehensive care to enhance health impact
The in-depth patient health information gathered during a CHA helps ensure our clients have clear insight into the challenges and needs their members are facing and that are affecting their ability to live healthier, more fulfilled lives.
For every member we meet, there is always an opportunity to do something that will make a difference. And providing genuine empathy with effective healthcare delivery truly improves health outcomes and positively impacts lives.
From a Patient in Arizona:
“I was having one of the most down days because I was bed-bound. You walked in, and I never knew when the assessment began and when it ended because you were so friendly and kind to me. It was as if a friend had entered my home. You made my whole world change because of the sunshine you brought into my world. I wish I could hug you and thank you a million times for all you have done for me! You are always welcome in my home. What a pleasure to get help from a company that is so wonderful, kind, and caring. I believe everyone should have a Matrix visit. Thank you for your excellent care.”
Celebrating Safe + Sound Week
Celebrating Safe + Sound Week
How Certified Athletic Trainers are Changing Workplace Health and Keeping Employers and Employees at the top of Their Game
It is Safe + Sound Week, August 15 to 21, and we want to applaud our customers who are investing in the health and wellness of their workforces with occupational health initiatives. This annual nationwide event, organized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), recognizes successful workplace health and safety programs and encourages all organizations to learn more.
A win-win for employers and employees
Occupational health programs are designed to keep workforces healthy and businesses productive. Key offerings can include everything from injury assessment and care, screenings, physical exams and therapy to workers’ compensation management, employee wellness, ergonomic evaluations, and more.
“The benefit of having these resources is you see employees experience enhanced wellbeing in their jobs and employers experience increased productivity from their workforce and a reduction in healthcare costs,” says Matrix Chief Medical Officer, Ryan Heyborne, MD, MBA, FACEP.
Worksite health and safety go hand in hand
As companies continue to recognize the work environment can also affect their employees’ chronic health conditions, and their overall comfort and capabilities as a result, addressing workplace safety is becoming an increasingly important consideration.
“The workplace is starting to be viewed as a social determinant of health. We know that individuals with chronic conditions such as depression, obesity, or diabetes have the potential for higher incidences of job-related injuries, lower productivity, and longer recovery rates,” says Dr. Heyborne. “When employers help employees identify, treat, and implement on-the-job health and safety measures that support their conditions, it improves their quality of life and helps them feel healthier, which can lead to better job satisfaction and outcomes.”
The era of the Certified Athletic Trainer
Today, emphasis is being placed on introducing upstream injury prevention programs versus downstream where companies can face costly injury treatment and case management. And one approach growing in popularity is the use of a Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC), who brings the mindset and methodologies used for years in sports medicine.
“An athlete with a torn hamstring wouldn’t perform at their best on the field, and the same applies for an employee in the workplace,” says Scott Zimprich, Vice President of Product Portfolio at Matrix. “Beginning to think of employees as ‘industrial athletes’ is changing the way organizations implement care in the workplace. These upstream care programs work to prevent injuries before they happen, keeping your industrial athletes safe and at the top of their game.”
An ATC is a nationally-certified healthcare provider that specializes in injury prevention and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, more than 70 percent of athletic trainers hold at least a master’s degree, and athletic training students are educated to provide care in prevention, clinical evaluation and diagnosis, immediate and emergency care, treatment and rehabilitation, and organization and professional health and wellbeing1.
“Like an athletic trainer on the field, ATCs can be right on the warehouse floor building relationships and offering work readiness training, such as proper stretching and lifting techniques,” says Zimprich.
In one survey2, after engaging an onsite ATC, employers reported a 50 percent decrease in workplace injury costs, a 25 percent reduction in workers’ comp claims for MSDs, a 25 percent decrease in lost workdays, and a 100 percent favorable ROI for industrial companies.
Matrix’s systematic and scientific approach
Matrix’s Injury Prevention Program is shifting the paradigm to reduce injury risk and maximize workplace performance with ATCs observing, coaching, and evaluating the root cause of MSDs on three levels – work design, worker, and workplace.
“When you conduct an ergonomic assessment of the job function, match it with the individual employee and their overall workplace environment and what they need to be successful, you are creating a health and wellness culture that better prepares employees for their jobs,” Dr. Heyborne says. “This method incites a level of employee engagement that encourages early reporting to get ahead of any health or safety issues, and by reducing work-related illness and injury, you’re improving the health of your workforce.”
In addition to injury prevention, Matrix serves organizations across the country by delivering comprehensive worksite health services and occupational health programs. To learn more about creating healthier workplaces during Safe + Sound Week, contact our team.
Sources:
1 – National Athletic Trainers’ Association, https://www.nata.org/about/athletic-training/education-overview
2 – Hall, Craig. “Certified Athletic Trainers Deliver ROI in Occupational Work Settings.
Introducing a Fully Integrated Primary Care & Occupational Health Solution
Introducing a Fully Integrated Primary Care and Occupational Health Solution
Workplace health has taken on a new meaning since the spring of 2020. As we continue to navigate the pandemic, more employers are embracing on-site and near-site health services and different care delivery solutions to protect the safety and well-being of employees, while also improving their convenient access to quality care.
To meet the growing need, Matrix Clinical Solutions and Crossover Health have collaborated to provide a joint primary care and occupational health solution. This integrated service offering combines Crossover’s Advanced Primary Health model, inclusive of primary care, physical medicine, mental health and more, with Matrix’s occupational health, urgent care, and embedded laboratory solutions. In addition, this unique collaboration offers employers a nationwide fleet of state-of-the-art mobile health clinics that offer quick and convenient quality care when and where it is needed.
Now, employers can work with a single source to meet a broad range of employee health, safety, and wellness needs, including:
- Primary Care
- Urgent Care
- Mental Health
- Occupational Health
- Preventative Care
- Physical Therapy
- Wellness Events
- Virtual Care
- Labs, Tests & Screenings
“Since the pandemic, demand has skyrocketed for services to protect employee health and well-being. The new partnership between Matrix and Crossover enables us to provide employers with a comprehensive health solution that leverages on-site clinics, virtual care, mobile units, and lab services to serve the needs of workplaces and workforces nationwide,” said Daniel Castillo, M.D., M.B.A., Matrix Chief Medical Officer and Group President.
Streamlining Workplace Health and Safety
Industry research1 shows that employer-sponsored health services are growing in both prevalence and scope. Nine out of ten employers support worksite clinics to improve access to care, quality of care, patient satisfaction, and productivity.
Yet, it’s often challenging for employers to manage multiple health vendors to meet the diverse spectrum of employee needs, while also improving access to quality care and the convenience of care delivery. The integrated Matrix and Crossover solution offers a streamlined process by providing employers a single source to develop and implement a customized health and safety strategy.
Both Matrix and Crossover operate in all 50 states and together have more than 6,000 clinicians. We share a dedication to patient-centered care through preventative health and foundational primary care, and occupational medicine, along with deep expertise in employer-sponsored healthcare. We look forward to rolling out the new offering and working with employers to elevate workplace health and wellness.
1 Mercer: worksite health centers 2021 survey report.
Our Focus on Delivering a Patient-Centric Solution to Recruit and Retain Hard-to-Reach Populations
Our Focus on Delivering a Patient-Centric Solution to Recruit and Retain Hard-to-Reach Populations
Patient recruitment and retention in rare diseases can be particularly challenging due to widely distributed and hard-to-find patient populations, the burden of participating in a trial, and skepticism of the health care system overall. These challenges are often exacerbated by lengthy journeys to diagnosis or repeated failed clinical trials. Matrix Clinical Trials and the PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific work closely together to provide flexible and rapidly executed decentralized clinical trial solutions to address these issues.
Recently a subject in a biopharmaceutical company’s clinical trial investigating a rare disease expressed frustration following an in-home trial visit. His bloodwork was not viable for use in the trial and needed to be repeated, but the individual felt uncomfortable with another in-home visit – and was at risk of not continuing in the trial. By activating a Mobile Health Clinic and study staff close to the subject’s home, he was comfortable with the solution and continued the trial.
Click here to read more about how providing a mobile site close to the subject put the trial subject at ease and avoided a potential dropout in a patient population that is challenging to recruit and retain.
– Kellie Matusofsky, Senior Director, Clinical Trial Operations
Matrix Clinical Trials Announces Collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific
Matrix Clinical Trials Announces Collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific
I am pleased to share that Matrix Clinical Trials and Thermo Fisher Scientific have announced a collaboration to bring clinical trials to patients with innovative decentralized clinical trial solutions. We have been working together since the beginning of the pandemic, using our mobile research sites and expert clinical staff as a critical component of advancing COVID treatments and vaccines, and diversifying clinical trial participant populations.
I’ve seen firsthand that these innovative offerings provide a growing benefit across varying therapeutic areas to reach underserved and diverse trial populations. Our collaboration with the PPD digital and decentralized solutions of Thermo Fisher Scientific strongly aligns with both organizations’ vision of advancing lifesaving clinical research and improving health outcomes for study participants via the application of decentralized solutions.
Matrix’s network of skilled clinicians, virtual principal investigators, and state-of-the-art Mobile Health Clinics enable us to provide robust care services via home visits, on-site support at medical facilities, virtual visits, and mobile sites. Thermo Fisher will be able to expand its PPD clinical research services to help identify, recruit, and retain trial participants while ensuring a positive patient experience.
I’m excited to see what the future holds for this collaboration and for Matrix Clinical Trials!
– Thad Wolfram, President of Matrix Clinical Trials
A new benefits partnership helps employees prioritize preventative care
This article was written by Deanna Cuadra and originally appeared in Employee Benefits News. Continue reading, or visit this link to learn more.
A new benefits partnership helps employees prioritize preventative care
Most people turn to a primary care physician when they’re feeling sick. But what about when they’re healthy?
While it’s commonly recommended that people under 50-years-old see a primary care physician every three years and those over 50 see their physician once a year, doctor visits may be the furthest thing from an employee’s mind if they deem themselves healthy. But this disconnection from care can lead to some serious medical consequences.
A study published in BMC Primary Care found that one primary care visit per year led to a 127% increase in vaccinations, 122% in colonoscopy and 75% increase in mammograms. The study notes that these care interventions not only improve long-term health outcomes but decrease healthcare costs. So, how can employees have a better relationship with primary care and prevention?
Healthcare companies Crossover Health and Matrix Clinical Solutions are attempting to answer that query by teaming up to connect workers with a joint primary care and occupational health services solution. This employer-provided benefit includes access to Crossover’s primary care model through Matrix’s onsite services, such as vaccine deployment and health screening.
“Matrix and Crossover have a very proactive approach to care — we believe the best way to deliver the best health is through prevention,” says Dr. Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, chief medical officer at Crossover. “By coming together, we represent the opportunity for employees to work with an occupational health provider and primary care provider to determine what services they need.”
For example, if an employee is receiving a vaccine at their workplace through Matrix’s providers, that provider may take their blood pressure and discover it’s elevated. The occupational health provider can then direct the employee to Crossover’s primary care team so the employee can receive hypertension management if needed, whether online or at a Crossover health center.
“Essentially, the occupational health provider can make a warm handoff to Crossover’s team, making the care system much easier to navigate for the employee,” says Dr. Ezeji-Okoye. “It’s a seamless blend of services that allows care to actually happen.”
This partnership also allows care to come to the employee. It’s much easier for workers to access health screenings and testing at their workplace, rather than making an appointment with a physician. In fact, the workplace could serve as the gateway to an employee’s healthcare journey — a journey that should start with primary care, explains Dr. Ezeji-Okoye.
However, Dr. Ezeji-Okoye notes that Crossover’s primary care model isn’t just a one-and-done check-up every three years. Instead, Crossover provides every patient with a care team, including a doctor, nurse, physical therapist, mental health therapist and health coach. In turn, this team creates a treatment plan that focuses on the patient’s concerns as well as their health goals.
“We are looking at the whole person and working to improve their overall well-being,” Dr. Ezeji-Okoye says. “A patient not being sick is not good enough for us. We are striving for something higher.”
For Dr. Ezeji-Okoye, it’s crucial that healthcare go beyond the biomedical perspective, even though doctors are reimbursed for providing procedures and treatments, such as antibiotics or surgery — actions that do not always factor in psychological or social challenges that hinders a patient’s health.
“Unfortunately, because of the way our health system is configured, you are not necessarily paid for understanding a patient’s goals, discussing social determinants of health or doing preventative care,” he says. “So, your doctor visits are short and pointed, and these larger discussions about improving someone’s health or changing their behavior are not always rewarded.”
Crossover wanted to provide primary care teams who can holistically help the patient in-person and virtually. Meanwhile, Matrix’s occupational health services can alert employees early on if they should seek care or better manage an existing condition. This also benefits the employer since workers will be more inclined to get care, rather than waiting for their condition to worsen, leading to a drop in productivity, Dr. Ezeji-Okoye explains.
“We are simplifying the employer health benefits landscape,” he says. “We will help the patient navigate more than just the primary care and occupational health system. It’s about navigating them at the right time and to right place to meet their health and wellness goals.”
Decentralized Clinical Trials: Equity for All
Decentralized Clinical Trials: Equity for All
I had the pleasure of participating in the opening panel discussion @SCOPE last week – a dynamic discussion about the patient component of clinical trials, including the impact and value of decentralized clinical trials.
As an industry we have been focused on ensuring diversity in clinical trials for years. Through the COVID-19 pandemic this was a focus – making sure we reached underserved and difficult to reach populations. Matrix Clinical Trials worked tirelessly to bring COVID-19 vaccine and treatment trials to groups like farmworker communities, Native American reservations, urban areas, and rural communities without good access to healthcare.
Across the industry we are building from our focus on diversity to a focus on equity. This may seem like a small difference, but it represents a shift from focusing on the few to focusing on ensuring equity for all. As a community we are committed to this cause and look forward to continuing a dialogue around how we can best make this a reality and bring clinical trials to the patient.
– Thad Wolfram, President of Matrix Clinical Trials
Decentralized Clinical Trials: Here to Stay
Decentralized Clinical Trials: Here to Stay
I had the pleasure of attending the first annual Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance (DTRA) meeting in Boston last week and was energized by great discussion with colleagues on the future of decentralized clinical trials.
One consistent theme that emerged is that decentralized trials (DCTs) are here to stay. When DCTs first emerged, they were used to solve for acute pain points like recruiting hard-to-reach populations and improving retention by making it easier to participate in clinical trials. But the ability of DCTs to provide clinical trial access to underserved and more diverse populations has been proven and is a key factor in why DCTs will be adopted for the long-term. And while they will always help address gaps in traditional clinical trials, we are starting to see sponsors consider how to leverage elements of trial decentralization earlier and earlier in the study design process. It was clear from the discussions at DTRA that this earlier consideration is one key to the successful application of DCT solutions.
At Matrix we help our clients from protocol design to clinical outcomes with customizable DCT services. That can mean everything from providing virtual principal investigators, enabling mobile sites, activating clinicians across geographies, providing in-house point-of-care lab services, and more.
– Thad Wolfram, President of Matrix Clinical Trials