Flip No. 21

Lighten the load of overburdened case workers through technology

Tools like Healthify assist case workers in health screenings.

By Flip the Clinic

A single case manager has to handle hundreds if not thousands of Medicaid patients at a time. To stay on top of every patient’s medical, social, educational, and behavioral needs is a constant challenge.

A startup called Healthify hopes to aid case managers and other staff by helping with the screening, referral, and engagement of patients for unmet needs in the clinic’s waiting room.

In clinics that use Healthify, after patients check in, they’re instructed to fill out a five-minute questionnaire on an iPad or take the survey with staff. The questionnaire, which can be customized based on the patient population, gathers information that’s not always addressed in a routine clinic visit, like food access issues and mental health status. Based on the results, Healthify’s referral algorithm recommends nearby support services from the company’s database of services. The tool also provides directions and a Google Street View image of the facility. Patients can choose to have the results texted or emailed to them.

Case managers are given access to a population dashboard, which means they’re able to keep track of how a patient is doing over time and who is most at risk. Case managers are also given the ability to rate the resources suggested, which helps Healthify become a stronger resource for patients.

Here’s how Healthify can be incorporated in the clinic:

1. Clinics choose to administer Healthify with the staff or via iPads placed in the waiting room.
2. After a patient checks in at the clinic, they’re directed to fill out Healthify’s questionnaire while they wait to be seen.
3. Healthify’s algorithm identifies the social and behavioral needs of the patient.
4. Patients can retrieve more information about the suggested services immediately or can send the information to themselves via text or email.
5. Participating physicians can opt in to receive a text about a patient’s social and behavioral needs right before they meet with the patient.
6. Case managers keep track of what their patients’ resource needs are immediately and in the long term.
7. Healthify will follow up with the patient via their preferred method of communication.

Case Study

Of the patients who decide to keep resources suggested to them, 85-90 percent choose that the information is delivered by text. After the first text is received, over 30 percent of patients continue to engage with the Healthify system.

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