new jersey direct primary care

R-Health Announces Expanded Collaboration with Aetna for Value-Based Healthcare Delivery

R-Health, a leader in innovative healthcare solutions, today announced the company has expanded its value-based healthcare delivery collaboration with Aetna.

With a recent contract to provide Direct Primary Care services to Aetna members through the New Jersey Direct Primary Care pilot program for members enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP), R-Health now has four agreements with Aetna, each focused on patient-centered care. The New Jersey program is an enhanced benefit for the SHBP and SEHBP that provides members free access to an R-Health Direct Primary Care physician with no co-pays or deductibles.

R-Health began working with Aetna in 2014, through the company’s accountable care organization, the Advanced Comprehensive Care Organization (ACCO). This started with a Medicare Advantage population and grew to include adult commercial and pediatric commercial populations. These programs deliver care to thousands of patients in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

These innovative collaborations are each focused on improving quality of care and reducing overall costs. This includes encouraging stronger patient engagement, sharing best practices across care teams, implementing evidence-based guidelines, and creating performance-based incentives.

“We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Aetna through the New Jersey Direct Primary Care program,” said Mason Reiner, R-Health’s CEO. “By offering their members who are enrolled in SHBP and SEHBP access to R-Health, members will experience primary care the way it should be. This builds on our existing patient-centered collaborations with Aetna.”

Through the collaborations between R-Health and Aetna, the 195 providers in ACCO have consistently surpassed clinical quality benchmarks in areas such as patient access, control of chronic conditions, preventive cancer screenings, and vaccinations. For example, during the most recent performance year, 86% of ACCO’s diabetic Medicare Advantage patients had HbA1c levels less than 9, and 96% of adolescents had proper immunizations.

R-Health’s Direct Primary Care program in New Jersey is an innovative offering focused on drastically improving the primary care experience by providing unlimited access to a personal physician with no co-pays or deductibles. It offers same-day and next-day appointments, little to no time in the waiting room, evening and weekend hours, phone consultations, and digital access to the patient’s personal doctor.

About R-Health: R-Health delivers more effective care and a better patient experience – all at a lower cost. We partner with employers, unions, insurance companies and TPAs to offer primary care that’s truly collaborative. This is accomplished through the traditional core values of convenient, personal primary care; our innovative data analytics and patient engagement platforms that streamline care, delivering better outcomes, lower costs and a refreshing patient experience; and the proactive management of chronic conditions. R-Health delivers value-based healthcare two ways, through R-Health Accountable Care, our commercial ACO, and R-Health Direct Primary Care, our innovative membership-based primary care model. For more information, visit www.R-Health.md.

About Aetna: Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving an estimated 46.7 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities, Medicaid health care management services, workers’ compensation administrative services and health information technology products and services. Aetna’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see http://www.aetna.com/ and learn about how Aetna is helping to build a healthier world. @AetnaNews

R-Health Opens New Direct Primary Care Practice in Ewing, NJ

January 13, 2017/0 Comments/in Direct Primary Care, R-Health /by Amber van Niekerk

New Location Part of the New Jersey State Direct Primary Care Program to Provide Free Access to Primary Care for State, Municipal, and School Employees

Yesterday, R-Health hosted a ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new location in Ewing, New Jersey. R-Health now has four primary care practices serving state, municipal, and school employees in the New Jersey Direct Primary Care (DPC) program, with additional practices launching throughout 2017.

In 2016, the State of New Jersey passed a resolution to create a Direct Primary Care Medical Home program, offering free DPC membership to more than 550,000 state, municipal, and school employees and their family members participating in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) or School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP).

Like many states, New Jersey has been struggling with spiraling healthcare costs. DPC offers an innovative solution that is proven to lead to better care and outcomes for workers, while lowering costs for individual employees and the State.

Membership to R-Health Ewing, and other R-Health practices, is a no co-pay, no deductible, primary care option for New Jersey public sector workers and their family members. They can join an R-Health practice for free and receive a full range of services including preventive, urgent, and sick care; health and wellness coaching; chronic disease management; and care coordination.

“We are so excited that New Jersey took notice of the benefits of providing barrier-free access to primary care, recognizing the innovative solution offered by Direct Primary Care,” said Mason Reiner, R-Health CEO. “R-Health is reinventing the way primary care is delivered, offering New Jersey workers personalized, relationship-based care.”

R-Health Direct Primary Care practices offer same-day and next-day appointments, longer appointment times, little to no time in the waiting room, evening and weekend hours, and access to the doctor in the office and out of the office via phone consultations and digital messaging.

R-Health physicians care for a maximum of 1,000 patients, compared to 2,500 to 3,000 in a traditional practice, freeing R-Health doctors to spend more time with each member.

State officials and labor union leaders joined R-Health to celebrate the grand opening including State Senate President Steve Sweeney; Kevin Kelleher, Director – Research and Economic Services, New Jersey Education Association; Hetty Rosenstein, Area Director, CWA New Jersey; and other labor leaders.

Said Randi Protter, MD, FACP, NCMP, the lead physician at R-Health Ewing, “I went into medicine to take care of people, but somewhere along the way, the focus on people has been lost in our healthcare system. This approach puts the patient front and center, allowing me to dedicate 100% of my time on providing care for our members.”

This membership-based approach to primary care turns the typical volume-based, fee-for-service model on its head. with R-Health practices entirely foregoing fee-for-service insurance billing.

R-Health Ewing is now accepting enrollment of new members, with sign up available at www.r-health.md/nj.

Why New Jersey is Offering FREE Primary Care to Over 550,000 Employees and Family Members

January 9, 2017/0 Comments/in Direct Primary Care /by Amber van Niekerk

The State of New Jersey recently launched an innovative program offering free primary care to more than 550,000 public sector employees and family members. Championed by the large public sector unions & Democratic State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and embraced by the administration of Republican Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey’s Direct Primary Care Medical Home Program offers a bi-partisan road map for how employers can enhance the healthcare benefits their employees receive while simultaneously reining in spiraling healthcare costs.

Sound too good to be true? Allow me to share three key features of the program and explain why New Jersey has designed it this way.

How You Can Foster Gratitude This Holiday Season

November 23, 2016/0 Comments/in R-Health /by Steve Horvitz

As we enter into the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s easy to get caught up in materialism and lose sight of what this time of year is really about. Research shows that people who regularly practice gratitude experience more positive emotions, tend to be more successful, sleep better and have stronger immune systems. Sounds great, right? But starting any new practice can be difficult, especially during the holidays, so here are a few tips that may help start and maintain a gratitude practice as we enter into the season of gratitude and giving.

Write it down

Putting pen to paper and actually writing out what you are grateful for is one of the best ways to reap the benefits of gratitude. When we acknowledge small fortunes each day we slowly change the way we perceive situations. For example, you may have had a great accomplishment like, “today my boss told me I was doing a good job,” something small such as “a stranger held the door for me when my hands were full,” or something like, “I am grateful to have found a doctor that takes the time to listen to me, to get to know me, and to help me become a healthier person.” Sometimes it can be challenging to dive into the blessings beyond those that are right in front of you such as family, friends and basic needs, but once you open your eyes to the “small mercies” in your daily life you will notice a shift in your practice and general attitude.

Commit to it

Making a conscious effort to write down your daily blessings and affirmations will enable you to grow and obtain the physical and mental health benefits of gratitude fostering. Writing small notes each day makes us happier, thankful and more optimistic. These positive feelings are encouraging and help us to maintain our practice, especially on those tougher days. I highly recommend using a journal of some kind to keep log of your practice. A regular ruled journal is great or you may choose a journal specific to gratitude fostering. As your practice grows you will be able to flip through pages of full of daily affirmations and positive events. It is also helpful to choose a set time of day to journal. Will you write in the morning to set intentions for the day ahead, in the evening to reflect on the day, or both?

Verbalize and embody it

One of the many rewards of channeling appreciation for life’s small gifts is that you are more likely to be oriented towards being compassionate, sharing and helping. Fostering gratitude and love for your life is very important but radiating that positivity outward is equally rewarding and crucial to your practice coming full circle. Write a letter to someone who you are grateful for, share your gratitude at the dinner table every night, show someone your appreciation through a thoughtful gesture, volunteer or donate.

Manifesting your practice into your daily life will not only make you feel good for extending extra compassion into the world, but it will make others feel a little more appreciated as well. And that, is the beautiful cycle of gratitude, which can lead to a beautiful cycle of health.

Dr. Steve Horvitz is R-Health’s Medical Director and one of the physician’s part of the NJ SHBP / SEHBP program.

Preventing Unnecessary Trips to the ER and Urgent Care

November 21, 2016/0 Comments/in Direct Primary Care, R-Health /by Amber van Niekerk

When you have a real relationship with your doctor in a Direct Primary Care practice, this can help minimize unnecessary trips to the emergency room or urgent care center.

How?

Instead of heading straight to the ER when facing a health issue, you can instead pick up the phone and call your personal doctor. (Please note that you should head straight to the ER or call 911 for life threatening medical emergencies). Your doctor can then help guide you on the best approach to your care.

Maybe that means your doctor meets you at the office to see you for a quick appointment. Or that you just need a prescription, which your doctor can call in for you over the phone – eliminating the need for an appointment altogether. Or maybe you really do need the emergency room and your doctor can give you this advice based on the symptoms you are experiencing and his or her knowledge of your medical history.

By empowering this relationship – it eliminates many of the barriers to care that are unfortunately so prevalent in healthcare today.

And not only does this lead to better health outcomes – it also saves you money but not having to deal with the high co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance that so often accompany a trip to the ER or urgent care center.

This is all part of the relationship we aim to empower between our members and our doctors in a Direct Primary Care setting. If you are a member of the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program(SHBP) or School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) you can sign up for this experience as an add-on benefit.

R-Health Announces New Direct Primary Care Pilot Program in New Jersey

November 1, 2016/0 Comments/in Direct Primary Care /by Amber van Niekerk

New Jersey State Health Benefits Program Plan Design Committee Establishes DPC Pilot Program as Model for Future of Healthcare Delivery

R-Health, a leader in innovative healthcare solutions, today announced the company has been awarded a contract to provide Direct Primary Care (DPC) services to members of the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) and their families. Read more on the program here.

The R-Health DPC program is a free enhanced benefit option for public sector employees and their family members who are enrolled in the SHBP and SEHBP health programs. R-Health DPC is launching with three initial practices in Haddonfield, NJ; Moorestown, NJ; and Washington Crossing, PA. The company has plans to add new practices across the state, with a new location opening in the Trenton area in early 2017.

R-Health DPC is focused on bringing the doctor-patient relationship back to the forefront, offering R-Health members the personal care they deserve. This membership-based approach to primary care turns the typical volume-based or current fee-for-service model on its head, offering members real relationships and accessibility to their own personal physician.

“In the state of New Jersey, we are facing out of control healthcare cost increases and we knew we had to take a hard look at the various ways we could fix this,” said Patrick Nowlan, Executive Director of Rutgers AAUP-AFT and Chair of the SHBP Plan Design Committee. “After much research, we realized a core component of cost savings – and better patient experience – was more proactive and relationship-based primary care.”

“NJEA is proud to have introduced this opportunity to the SEHBP Plan Design Committee because we recognize the overall benefits that a Direct Primary Care Medical Home Model can bring to thousands of public school employees,” said Wendell Steinhauer, New Jersey Education Association President and Design Committee Member. “Increasing quality care to members and their families as well as providing them with more information to make better quality healthcare decisions – while simultaneously reducing overall healthcare costs – is a win-win for all.”

“CWA is very excited to be at the start of this cutting edge healthcare pilot,” said Hetty Rosenstein, Area Director of CWA New Jersey. “We believe that primary care is the future of wellness and preventative medicine. This is a union-designed program that has healthcare outcomes as its goal.”

“With this pilot program established by the Plan Design Committee, we are providing access to DPC with no co-pay for any members, and their families, of the SHBP or SEHBP,” said Robert Little, Assistant to the Director at AFSCME Council I. “This means there will be no co-pays, deductibles, or other out of pocket costs to see a participating DPC physician.”

The DPC model is designed to give members unparalleled access to outstanding, relationship-based primary care. This includes same-day or next-day appointments, evening and weekend hours, little or no wait time in the waiting room, unhurried consultations with the doctor, and access to a personal physician via phone and digital messaging.

“We have all been frustrated by how hard it is to reach our doctor and how long we have to spend in the waiting room before we are seen,” said Mason Reiner, CEO of R-Health. “R-Health Direct Primary Care is designed to provide the convenient access to care that our members deserve.”

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