CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Older patients are usually sicker and more expensive to treat. But that\u2019s exactly the kind of patients that ArchWell Health \u2014 a national network of health clinics that\u2019s expanded into Greater Cleveland \u2014 likes best. <\/p>\n
Keeping seniors healthy and out of hospitals is ArchWell\u2019s main goal \u2014 and also its business plan. The more patients the company keeps out of hospitals, the more ArchWell makes from Medicare Advantage reimbursements. <\/p>\n
The primary care health company only signs up patients who are 60 and over who are on Medicare Advantage. It uses a model that promotes preventive care and better coordination among health care professionals, experts said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf we keep people out of the hospital and out of the ER, keep them healthy and doing well, then in this business model we actually do well financially,\u201d said Dr. Don Goddard, president and national director of primary care at ArchWell Health. <\/p>\n
This could be the future of health care, and it\u2019s new to Ohio. <\/p>\n
The primary care network<\/a> opened its first Cleveland-area locations in September and October in Parma, Brook Park, Eastlake and Maple Heights. <\/p>\n A Westlake location opens Thursday. Four more are slated to open soon in Cleveland Heights, Euclid and in Cleveland on Lorain Avenue and Kinsman Road. <\/p>\n Six of the local facilities will repurpose former Rite Aid, CVS and Save-A-Lot stores, the healthcare company said.<\/p>\n The healthcare company targets areas that don\u2019t have enough primary care physicians but do have a growing elderly population.<\/a> In Cuyahoga County, the share of the population that is 65 and older increased from 15.5% in 2010 to 19.6% in 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau <\/a>data.<\/p>\n Nationally, ArchWell has more than 70 primary care centers across 11 states, and plans to expand to 100 centers by early 2026.<\/p>\n At ArchWell clinics that seem more like an activity center than a doctor\u2019s office, patients can drop by, hang out and join in bingo, karaoke, adult coloring and movies. The camaraderie alleviates loneliness. It also helps caregivers bond with patients \u2014 who are called \u201cmembers\u201d \u2014 so that health problems can be identified and addressed quickly. <\/p>\n In the few weeks since it opened, ArchWell\u2019s Maple Heights location has already untangled a longstanding paperwork problem for one new patient. Unable to get a nebulizer to ease her breathing from her former physician, the patient was making frequent trips to the emergency department for help. <\/p>\n An ArchWell caregiver completed the paperwork and had the device delivered to the patient\u2019s home. Now, the patient and her caregivers can focus on controlling her diabetes, said ArchWell Maple Heights manager Misha Fuller.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething so small can make a huge difference,\u201d Fuller said.<\/p>\n The Maple Heights clinic has signed up nearly 50 patients, and caregivers are focused on getting them vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza as the winter respiratory virus season starts. <\/p>\n Fuller, who lives in Maple Heights, thinks the new primary care clinic benefits her community.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel good at the end of the day,\u201d Fuller said. \u201cThis is the most rewarding work \u2014 keeping people healthy and out of the hospital, and helping extend their life spans.\u201d<\/p>\n The ArchWell philosophy emphasizes a holistic approach to health that includes social determinants of health, such as accessing healthy food or transportation to doctor\u2019s appointments, and reducing the effects of chronic disease. Care teams include case managers and social workers.<\/p>\n The patient-to-doctor ratio is low, allowing office visits that can last from 20 to 60 minutes. By way of comparison, the average visit in the U.S. lasts 18 minutes, according to a 2023 study.<\/a><\/p>\n If a member is ill, an ArchWell physician will personally call to check on them. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to take care of seniors with a lot of needs,\u201d Goddard said. \u201cTo keep them healthy and out of the hospital, we have to address everything that\u2019s affecting their health.\u201d<\/p>\n If ArchWell members do need to see a specialist or visit the hospital, a case manager coordinates follow-up care.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect that patient to be in our office within three days after discharge from a hospital,\u201d Goddard said. \u201cWe do a phone call to make sure anything they need from the hospital is there.\u201d<\/p>\n Goddard is already well acquainted with Cleveland\u2019s healthcare landscape. He grew up in Mentor, had a private practice in Chardon and was an University Hospitals administrator before moving to Tampa, Florida, where he now lives. <\/p>\n \u201cit\u2019s funny, when you move away from Cleveland, you realize how good you had it. I definitely miss Cleveland a lot,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Goddard \u2014 no relation to the late, legendary Cleveland weatherman Dick Goddard \u2014 joined ArchWell Health soon after the startup company launched in 2021.<\/p>\n Oak Street Health and ChenMed are among the national networks of health clinics that, similar to ArchWell, are focused on keeping older Americans healthy by emphasizing wellness. <\/p>\n Oak Street Health, <\/a>part of CVS Health, offers personalized wellness plans and social activities for older adults. Oak Street has at least four locations in the Cleveland area. <\/p>\n ChenMed<\/a> operates more than 100 dedicated medical centers for seniors in 15 states; it has clinics in Maple Heights and Columbus. <\/p>\n ArchWell emphasizes quality care over volume<\/p>\n ArchWell\u2019s business model, called value-based care, is when the government pays healthcare companies based on outcomes rather than on the number of services provided. This differs from most healthcare models, known as \u201cfee-for-service,\u201d in which caregivers are paid for services provided.<\/p>\n Under its model, ArchWell receives a pool of reimbursement money from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, based on how many hospitalizations the federal government expects ArchWell\u2019s patients to have in one year. If Archwell prevents more hospitalizations than the government expects, it still keeps the reimbursements. <\/p>\n As an example, if an ArchWell center had 1,000 patients and only 100 were hospitalized in a given year, the company would keep its reimbursement for the 900 who weren\u2019t hospitalized, Goddard said. <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t do well in this business, unless your patients are doing well,\u201d Goddard said. <\/p>\n Dr. Victoria Maize, a professor of medicine, family medicine, and public health at the University of Arizona, sees value-based care as a positive development. <\/p>\n There\u2019s a benefit when healthcare providers look at the whole person \u2014 body, mind and spirit \u2014 and all of the things that may be influencing their health, such as lifestyle, genetics, behaviors and beliefs, said Maize, author of a forthcoming AARP book <\/a>on integrative medicine, \u201cHeal Faster: Unlock Your Body\u2019s Rapid Recovery Reflex.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c(Value-based care) aligns the incentives in a way that we as a society should want the incentives to be,\u201d Maize said. \u201cHow do we keep people as healthy as possible and out of the hospital, as opposed to for-profit hospitals that want their beds full or want to be doing more surgical procedures, because then they make more money, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Some ArchWell patients get annoyed by all of the attention they receive from clinic caregivers, but most have the opposite reaction, Goddard said. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll say, \u2018I don\u2019t need to be called all the time,\u2019 because we\u2019re always checking in on them, making sure they\u2019re okay,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the majority of patients love all the attention they get and the follow-up that we do on their medical needs.\u201d<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 Older patients are usually sicker and more expensive to treat. 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