Two significant players in the virtual care space are joining forces in what seems like a logical fit and a symbiotic union. The partnering of Assure Health and Hero Health pairs Assure Health‘s remote therapy monitoring (RTM) platform and at-home remote patient monitoring (RPM) with Hero Health‘s medication management platform. This is an important partnership not only because it broadens virtual healthcare with a higher level of efficiency, but also in terms of affordability for the patients; Medicare covers many of the services.
As of January 1, 2022, Medicare offers reimbursements for a range of RTM services. These include virtual monitoring of musculoskeletal system and respiratory system status, pain management, and therapy response. For those who are eligible, Medicare will cover setting up at-home RTM equipment and educating patients on its use, as well as monthly virtual visits with caregivers and other healthcare professionals, such as therapists and physicians.
Hero brings its proprietary medication management system to the partnership with Assure. Since its debut in 2018, Hero Health has garnered attention for its smart pill dispenser. The handy device has allowed multitudes of patients to bid farewell to their traditional pill boxes, turning instead to an app-connected dispenser that stores and disburses up to a 90-day supply of as many as ten different medications. That’s backed by home delivery of refills, 24/7 live support, and an app that offers reminders for taking pills, alerts for missed doses, and overall medication tracking.
Assure is a leader in the virtual management of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and heart disease, just to name a few. As nearly all the chronic conditions that Assure helps patients to manage require medication, it’s easy to see how Assure’s remote care services would benefit from the smart dispensing system offered by Hero. In providing remote care for chronic issues, Assure sends patients a variety of smart health-monitoring devices that measure things including blood pressure and blood glucose, reporting the data to a nurse practitioner each day. Patients have telehealth consultations with Assure’s in-house doctors and connect with care managers via phone, text, or video visits.
Increasingly common, partnerships between healthcare platforms are offering an ever-widening range of virtual services, breaking down the cost obstacles and the geographical barriers that once stood more firmly in the way of patient care. Partnerships also offer a fast path to market when it comes to adding new services, rather than having to develop them internally from the ground up.
