Patina Medical Group, a primary care provider based in Ballasinveld, PA, has partnered with Independence Blue Cross of Philadelphia, PA to provide primary care to select Independence Medicare Advantage Plus members. Members with a Keystone 65 HMO or Personal Choice 65sm PPO plan have access to Patina’s plan, which specializes in care for people 65 and older.
“Patina is focused on improving the healthcare and aging experience for adults over 65. Our understanding of the changes the body experiences during normal aging (e.g., body composition, vision, hearing, sleep, heart function, fatigue, [and other maladies],” Patina CEO Jack Stoddard said in an email.
He added that Patina can provide care for people with one or more chronic conditions, such as arthritis, CHF, diabetes, falls, depression, dementia and other needs that often arise with age.
“The need for values-tailored care is amplified for adults over 65 who often have unique physical, cognitive or social needs. Patina addresses this by building the primary care experience from the ground up, and clinicians are experts in the aging process and tailor care to the specific strengths and needs of adults over 65,” Stoddard said.
In addition to focusing on the geriatric population, Patina offers virtual and in-home care, rather than office visits, as the primary source of patient care, according to the release. Stoddard likens the model to using technology to bring care back to the home, as it did about 70 years ago.
The company creates a customized care team for each patient to understand each patient’s unique needs in order to provide preventive care, not just reactive care.
Specifically, the care team includes a health advocate and a primary care physician, with others augmented based on the patient’s individual needs and goals, according to companyFor example, the team can include a nurse practitioner, behavioral health specialist, pharmacist, geriatrician, chronic disease specialist, logistics specialist, etc., depending on the individual needs of each patient.
According to its press release, Patina envisions this care team as the “go-to” resource for anything a patient needs, from scheduling appointments to scheduling care from multiple providers to leveraging community resources.
“Patina provides each patient with his or her own multidisciplinary care team who take the time to get to know the patient, build trusted relationships, and develop a personalized plan of care based on the patient’s values, goals, background, and preferences,” Stoddard said . “Too often, traditional healthcare systems define patients by their medical problems and associated treatments, which are presented in discrete, reactive events. This model ignores what matters most: our lives goals and values, and our preferences for how to manage our health.”
Through this partnership, Independence members can use Patina as their Primary Care Provider (PCP) without exceeding the member’s standard cost-sharing. Additionally, members who choose Patina as their PCP can still receive the same benefits from their standalone plan.more than As a result of the partnership, 100,000 Medicare Advantage members will have the option to use Patina.
According to Stoddard, Patina hopes its remote and in-home services will create equitable access to care for IBC members, whether they live in rural or Philadelphia communities. He added that Patina will go to places where clinics may never be built.
Next steps for Patina include partnering with the National Medicare Advantage to expand into more markets across the country. Additionally, it plans to expand into the Philadelphia metro area in 2023 and offer Patina to other health plan members, according to Stoddard.
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