Landmark Health—the private equity-backed in-home medical company recently rumored to be up for sale—has entered into a new care-delivery collaboration with Blue Shield of California and one of its subsidiaries.
As part of the collaboration, Landmark will work with Blue Shield of California and subsidiary Care1st Health Plan to offer “the 21st century version of house calls” for the chronically ill. San Francsisco-based Blue Shield of California, an independent member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is a nonprofit health plan with 4 million members, 6,800 employees and more than $17 billion in annual revenue.
“Our goal at Landmark is to reach as many chronically ill patients as possible with our high-touch model of care, because we believe that placing specialized providers in the homes of our patients can offer the best possible health outcomes for this population,” Chris Goldsmith, Landmark president, said in a statement.
About 10,000 members currently qualify for the Landmark program, Terry Gilliland, senior vice president and chief health officer at Blue Shield of California, told Home Health Care News via email.
Founded in 2013, Landmark is a home-based medical care provider that offers physician-led care and has served more than 80,000 patients in California, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. In addition to its U.S. operations, Landmark has an international office in Bengaluru, India.
Its founder and former CEO Adam Boehler left his role with Landmark to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in April.
He concurrently holds the title of deputy administrator for innovation and quality with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Landmark is available for people enrolled in Blue Shield and Care1st Medicare health plans in select regions throughout California, though services will be expanded to other members later in 2018. Landmark’s services include both routine and urgent care visits.
There will be no additional cost to participate in the program or for services provided by Landmark for Blue Shield’s eligible members.
Eligible Blue Shield and Care1st members will receive a letter inviting them to participate in the program, then receive a follow-up call from a Landmark professional to set up an hour-long in-home introductory appointment. At that point, eligible members can either accept or decline services.
“As a mission-driven, nonprofit health plan, Blue Shield of California is always looking for ways to improve the quality and affordability of health care for all Californians, and that includes working with others who share in that vision,” Gilliland said. “Our goal is to help ensure people who are chronically ill have what we’d like to call here at Blue Shield care that is worthy of our family and friends, and Landmark helps us do that.”
The newly announced collaboration with Blue Shield comes less than a month after Landmark landed a similar arrangement with insurance giant Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM)—and less than four months since the company was reportedly pursuing a potential sale. Landmark is providing in-home medical, behavioral and palliative care coordination for Humana’s Medicare Advantage (MA) members in seven states.
In 2018, Landmark is projected to generate about $53 million in EBITDA, according to The Wall Street Journal. Landmark’s investors reportedly include San Francisco-based private equity firm Francisco partners and McKesson Ventures, a venture capital fund also based in San Francisco. New York-based Oxeon Partners is also an investor.
General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, also recently made an undisclosed investment in Landmark.
Written by Robert Holly
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