Sprinter Health and Firefly Health recently announced a partnership to improve patient care at home. Sprinter Health sends licensed health professionals to diagnose and provide care for patients directly in their homes. Firefly Health is a health plan company that offers personalized and affordable virtual primary care service, also in patient homes. By partnering with Sprinter, Firefly Health will be able to follow up on virtual care with in-home clinical services delivered by Sprinter personnel (called Sprinters).
Sprinter Health personnel are licensed nurses or phlebotomists. When they go to patient homes they can check vital signs, draw blood for testing, and perform many diagnostic services. Sprinter Health sends Sprinters with additional skills as needed. For example, qualified Sprinters do ECG tests plus diabetic foot screening and diabetic eye exams. Sprinter sends test results to Firefly Health physicians who also review visit summaries and provide follow up when appropriate.
The Sprinter Health and Firefly Health collaboration combines telehealth with high-touch home visits, According to a joint news release, one of the goals of working together is to increase patient engagement with their own care to boost compliance with preventive care and to improve the overall patient experience. This hybrid model is an example of a path forward for telehealth services to add “boots on the ground” services for patients.
