Managing Population Health with the Right Technology

SUMMARY

The Company: 

Argus is a financial services company with health insurance and third-party administrator  (TPA) services based in Bermuda and Canada. Argus partnered with Johns Hopkins Medicine  International in 2014 to build Thrive., a population health management program that empowers  their insured members to lead healthier lives while reducing the overall cost of healthcare in  Bermuda. The Thrive. program supports various members with distinct healthcare and wellness  needs, including those with chronic conditions or complex health needs in their community.

The Argus Objective:  

In addition to workplace wellness services and a wellness rewards program, Thrive. offers  case management and care coordination assistance for those who have one or more chronic  conditions or who have received recent hospital care. For these members, uncoordinated  care can lead to poor patient experience, misunderstandings about benefit resources and  care process, unnecessary costs and, sometimes, complications. The Argus Population Health  Management team were looking for a care coordination solution or platform to assist with  patient follow up as it became increasingly cumbersome to track and manage communication  touch points and coordinate tasks as the program grew. 

Shakira Warner, Vice President, Population Health Management, noted, “Bermuda has its  own unique healthcare system and culture. We wanted a care coordination solution that was  customizable for our jurisdiction, could meet our participants’ needs, and enhance our care  manager’s patient interactions. We found that other out of the box solutions were not as flexible  as Welkin.”  

While scaling their case management services, the Argus team was looking for a solution that  could also grow with the Thrive. program. Before Welkin, Argus had a digital solution that  utilized tracking spreadsheets, but needed something more robust to keep them aligned with all  case management pathways and activities. 

THE RESULT 

Key measures of success of the Thrive Case Management program include evaluation of member engagement and progression through workflows, and evaluation of claims impact on  case management interventions.  

Since January 2022, Argus has seen 50% census growth in one month. This represents new  member growth while using the Welkin platform. As the program continues to grow, Argus  hopes to share more up-to-date statistics on the program’s progress and impact. 

THE SOLUTION 

Customizability of platform: 

The Argus Population Health Management team found with Welkin that they could easily customize  and change the platform according to their needs with Welkin’s codeless program design. 

“I was the primary contact for configuration and setup, and as a business user versus a technical/IT  specialist, I was initially concerned about needing a technical expert, but the Welkin system was so  user-friendly. I knew exactly what I wanted and was able to translate that into the system with ease.  Welkin provided assistance along the way to bring the vision to life.” Warner said. 

Attentive customer service & rapid implementation: 

The Argus team also appreciated that Welkin was so focused on customer service. Warner notes,  “While we were evaluating alternative solutions, that was something that really jumped out for us.  Larger companies did not seem as customer focused. With Welkin, we appreciated their respect for  our vision, their responsiveness, and making sure that we had the tools to successfully implement  the program.”  

Warner also reflected, “From sales, to implementation, to customer success, and IT, the Welkin  team was prompt and attentive during our configuration. Working with them has been enjoyable  and rewarding.” 

Multiple program support: 

The Argus team also liked the fact that Welkin supported many programs. Thrive. has four care  

pathways: lifestyle case management, complex case management, care transition support, and  a specialty drug program. Since they have various case management pathways, they’re able to  customize each program to specialize patient journeys with appropriate assessments and workflows.

Automated administrative tasks: 

The Argus team was also able to leverage automation within Welkin including automating  follow up tasks and emails. For example, for their specialty drug program, Welkin’s platform  helps them stay on task to ensure that they’re checking key points for a patient to get the  infusions that they need. Once a patient in their specialty drug program has enrolled, protocol  is to follow up within two business days. Once configured in Welkin, when a patient is added to  the program, those tasks generate automatically.  

Workflow management: 

When Argus opens up the Welkin home screen, they can see organized tasks and emails which  allows them to manage their to-do list and what’s happening during their day. 

Security and compliance: 

Argus has a comprehensive auditing program when it comes to vendor evaluation. They  evaluate a list of checkpoints to ensure that the vendors they work with are compliant with  their high expectations of confidentiality and privacy and regulatory requirements. As a  healthcare organization, data safety is critical, and the Argus Team was happy with the level of  security and security information the Welkin team provided.  

LET’S CREATE AMAZING PATIENT  EXPERIENCES TOGETHER  

Welkin Health is an automated care management platform that facilitates a team based approach  to care for those who treat and manage preventative, follow-up and chronic conditions. Promote  a higher level of patient engagement and positive outcomes with our platform that focuses on  automation, care coordination, scheduling, and security.