Spatially Health partners with VBCare Network to help collect SDOH data

VBCare will use Spatially to gains insights into health barriers faced their by patient population

Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries share multiple risks, such as food and nutrition needs, loneliness, lack of transportation, living at home securely, mental health, and language barriers, which tend to drive up the cost of care and increase utilization. These are generally known as social determinants of health (SDOH). 

Spatially Health has developed a cloud-based, health equity platform that uses spatial analytics, location intelligence, and machine learning to map the relationships between SDOH and an individual’s environment.

"Our platform identifies health barriers at the hyperlocal level, enabling us to deliver personalized intervention recommendations and a data-driven marketplace for providers to seamlessly connect patients with the right interventions that reduce utilization and improve health outcomes," Hillit Meidar-Alfi, co-founder and CEO at Spatially Health, told VatorNews.

"Spatially Health is a solutions platform for forward-thinking, risk-bearing organizations dedicated to promoting health equity and gaining actionable insights into health barriers for their vulnerable populations."

This week the company announced a partnership with VBCare Network, a value-based provider network serving Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries in Arizona, through which VBCare will integrate Spatially Health's Equity Equalizer technology into its network.

The partnership came about as Spatially's VP of Sales was prospecting and came across VBCare Network. After researching the organization, he contacted the CEO to explore the possibility of leveraging the platform to identify health better within their patient population. He was able to secure a meeting where he delved deeper into the organization's needs and aligned the benefits of our platform with those needs.

"Like many risk-bearing organizations, VBCare Network was developing its equity plan. However, due to incomplete SDOH data, it could not accurately identify prevalent health barriers and intervention types that would serve as the basis of its equity plan," said Meidar-Alfi.

"Utilizing our solutions platform, VBCare gains comprehensive insights into their patient population and health barriers, enabling them to make informed decisions about which interventions to prioritize based on patient health factors and intervention effectiveness."

Spatially Health's clients use its Equity Equalizer Platform to help them identify prevalent health barriers, evaluate the risk, and understand the associated costs of their patient population. This information helps them inform equity plans and strategies.

The platform also empowers provider teams and care managers with patient insights that consider medical data alongside health barriers, enabling personalized and actionable interventions to improve patient outcomes.

"Healthcare organizations face challenges in addressing health disparities and improving patient outcomes effectively. Social determinants of health significantly influence individual health. However, collecting, managing, and utilizing SDOH data to inform care strategies is still a significant hurdle," Meidar-Alfi explained.

Currently, Spatially has a base of 330,000 patients, out of which it currently serves 145,000 on its platform. Other organizations using the Equity Equalizer platform include Palm Beach ACO located in West Palm Beach, Florida; Asaar Medical, a Boca Raton FL-based ACO Reach Organization; Shore Quality Partners, an ACO Reach Organization in New Jersey; and ilumed, an Accountable Care Organization REACH, based in Jupiter Florida.

VBCare Network operates statewide serving over 100,000 Health Plan Medicaid enrollees providing value-based care to Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial health plan members. That means, that by partnering with VBCare Network, Spatially will gain "a strong presence in a competitive state," Meidar-Alfi said. 

For Spatially, the ultimate goal for this partnership is to deploy its Equity Equalizer platform across all their patients. Moreover, Spatially aims to seamlessly integrate its platform into the workflows of the caseworkers and providers so that it becomes a routine part of their interaction with patients.

"Spatially Health is a female-founded and led company with a vision of promoting equity and dignity in healthcare. By leveraging location intelligence and spatial analytics, we are helping risk-bearing organizations take an innovative approach to addressing social determinants of health and health equity," said Meidar-Alfi.

"VBCare has been a fantastic partner committed to advancing health equity and seeking actionable insights to address health barriers within its vulnerable population."