It was almost a year ago when Dan Trigub co-founded his company, MedArrive, with support from Redesign Health, Kleiner Perkins and Define Ventures.
The San Francisco-based in-home care startup has grown fairly rapidly since then, landing key partnerships with organizations like Cover Health (Nasdaq: CLOV) and a strategic investment from The SCAN Group. MedArrive’s latest win came on Tuesday: a major collaboration with Bright HealthCare.
“Bright is a national payer that is always looking to get to know its population better, to understand what their risks are and what types of services they need,” Trigub, MedArrive’s CEO, told Home Health Care News. “Previously, they didn’t have that human touch. They didn’t have contact with those members, especially right after they enrolled into their program. I think what this partnership shows is how we can deliver an effective solution for that at scale.”
MedArrive helps payers and providers shift more care into the home via its logistics and services platform. In addition to virtual care capabilities, the startup supports its partners by coordinating in-person care from emergency medical services (EMS) professionals, nurses, community health workers, phlebotomists and others.
Its overarching mission, according to Trigub, is to improve access to high-quality health care for a fraction of what traditional services cost.
“We ultimately empower care programs into the home, with EMS being at our core,” he said. “And we empower primarily health plans, as well as health care providers, to leverage our platform to better serve those they care for.”
On its end, Bright HealthCare is a technology-enabled health insurance carrier that delivers benefits to over 720,000 consumers across 14 states and 99 markets. Its various lines of business include employer and individual health plans, along with Medicare Advantage (MA) and Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs).
Bright initially began working with MedArrive in the Charlotte, North Carolina, market for in-home preventative visits from EMS professionals and physician-led telemedicine oversight. Around 10,000 of Bright’s new members will have access to MedArrive’s services, according to the company.
MedArrive is currently working with Bright’s newly enrolled Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicare members.
“A lot of these individuals are vulnerable populations who otherwise but for MedArrive wouldn’t have a viable alternative to get home-based care services,” Trigub said. “In many of our visits, … we’re talking to maybe the son or daughter of the plan member, and they’re telling us that this is the first time anyone has ever come into their home to do a preventative health check.”
So far, the two entities, which have already been partnering for a few months, have carried out more than 230 in-person visits. More than 420 visits have been scheduled overall.
“Bright Health’s partnership with MedArrive is critical to executing on our ability to bring an integrated system of care to local communities,” Patrick Mobley, the insurance carrier’s president, said in a press release. “Bright Health believes we must meet our members where they are, bringing providers to our members’ doorsteps and reducing barriers to access, while driving better outcomes.”
The Bright-MedArrive partnership reflects today’s health care trends in multiple ways.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the U.S. health care sector has embraced the use of technology and alternative care models to move services away from brick-and-mortar facilities. The open-mindedness has fueled MedArrive and a long list of other home-focused startups, from Sprinter Health and Patina Health, to Papa and Ready.
“We truly believe that the hospital of the future is an OR, an ER and an ICU, and that the vast majority of services, if not everything else, beyond that will move into the home,” Trigub said. “We’re not the only company with this premise. There are many organizations today looking to bring care into the home.”
Even so, there’s plenty of white space for organizations like MedArrive to grow and flourish, he added.
“It’s not a winner-take-all market,” Trigub said. “It’s not one company that’s going to be the magic solution for all home-based care services.”
The Bright-MedArrive partnership is also an example of boosting health care resources amid severe workforce shortages by getting the most out of the people delivering care. EMS professionals can perform a variety of tasks, but they’re often underutilized or cornered into a very specific role.
“It’s a very compassionate workforce that truly enjoys giving back to their communities,” Trigub said. “They come back to us and say, ‘We deal with compassion fatigue in our day job. We get burned out. This gives me an opportunity to practice to my full scope of training and have a bigger impact in the community, before people even get to the emergency room or call 911.”
Looking back, the past year has been “an absolute adventure,” Trigub said. That adventure doesn’t just include growing his business, but building its team in a totally remote and virtual world.
The CEO and co-founder suggested there’s more exciting news in the not-too-distant future.
“The amount of partnerships we’ve been able to garner over a short period of time — I think everybody recognizes there’s a need to provide quality care into the home,” he said. “This is the future.”
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