Hero — a digital home-based care medication management platform — has teamed up with Henry Ford Health System. Through the partnership, Henry Ford’s in-home care patients will have access to Hero’s platform to help with their medication regimens.
The partnership reflects how health systems are embracing innovative solutions to care for patients in the home setting.
“This will allow our patients to safely maintain their independence at home,” Michael Ellis, vice president of Henry Ford at Home, said in a press release. “It also provides peace of mind to their caregiver, knowing that they’re taking their medicine on schedule, and as prescribed by their doctor.”
Henry Ford Health System’s network includes five hospitals, three behavioral health facilities, a health plan and more than 250 care sites. The health system’s home-based care arm, Henry Ford at Home, offers private-pay nursing, therapy, nurse aide services, hospice and more.
Meanwhile, Hero’s platform includes a smart pill dispenser, a medication management app, automatic refills and live support. Since its 2018 launch, the company has dispensed more than 70 million medications.
In general, medication adherence has a direct impact on hospital readmission. Specifically, patients with low medication adherence are more than twice as likely to be readmitted to the hospital, according to a National Institutes of Health study.
Hero’s CEO and founder, Kal Vepuri, has found that its value-add as a company is its ability to streamline medication management in a way that prioritizes overall health outcomes.
“There’s a lot of friction points that you have to remove for people to really take their medication,” he told Home Health Care News. “We’re really focused on improving health care outcomes by integrating tightly with our provider partners, making sure that we’re a tool for home care partners that need to manage medication and do it in a way that improves satisfaction and engagement from those patients.”
Aside from Henry Ford, Hero has a partnership with AdhereHealth, a medication adherence company, and has more partnership announcements on the horizon.
Hero is reimbursed through risk-bearing entities, as well as patients who pay out of pocket.
In addition to what Hero is doing now, the future is also top of mind. The company recently announced the formation of an advisory board comprised of experts from the private sector and academia.
Hero’s advisory board members include, among others: Dr. Roy Beveridge, a senior advisor at Avalere; Brad Fluegel, a principal at BMF Advisors; and Phyllis Yale, who currently serves on the board of directors of Bristol Myers Squibb, BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts, DaVita Healthcare and Aledade.
As part of planning for the company’s future, Hero is also looking to get into other areas of at-home care management besides medication adherence, according to Vepuri.
“We’re fleshing out and building out all the different aspects of a digital in-home care platform,” he said. “The aim of that is to improve independence, extend lifespan and improve the overall quality of life and outcomes for everyone with a chronic medical condition.”
As for what’s next, Hero also has a few upcoming partnerships under its belt.
“We have a number of very significant partnerships that we have been working diligently on some for years,” Vepuri said. “We’ll be excited to announce those soon. [These partnerships] are focused on the chronic care populations and supporting their polypharmacy and in-home monitoring needs.”
Additional reporting by Andrew Donlan
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