CHICAGO—WellBe Senior Medical, an in-home value-based care provider to the Medicare Advantage population, announced an investment from CVS Health Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of CVS Health. This partnership and investment will help to accelerate WellBe's national expansion. Currently, WellBe operates in seven states and has more than 107,000 Medicare Advantage members and over $2 billion in premium under management.
"CVS Health Ventures is committed to helping provide seamless access to quality health care, especially for vulnerable populations like seniors," said Vijay Patel, managing partner of CVS Health Ventures. "WellBe's innovative approach to in-home medical care aligns with our vision of redefining the way health care is delivered in a multi-payor, patient-centric manner. Our collaboration with WellBe will support their mission to empower seniors to live healthier, happier lives in their homes."
WellBe's prescribing providers bring specialized geriatric care into the patient's home. Many of the services available from a typical physician clinic are now delivered to the home, proactively managing care for the sickest and most complex Medicare Advantage patients. WellBe partners with Medicare Advantage health plans via global capitated risk arrangements to manage the 10-15% of members with very high and rising medical loss ratios. This allows WellBe to guarantee savings up front to the health plan and take on the risk of managing this costly population. By delivering proactive medical care at home, available to patients 24/7/365, WellBe helps avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, reducing total medical cost while improving overall patient satisfaction. Additionally, WellBe improves HEDIS measures leading to an increase in Star Ratings from a low of 2.5 to a high of 4.5.
WellBe was cofounded by Chicago Pacific Founders (CPF) and provided the capital to grow WellBe to this point. CPF invests in founder-led health care services companies.
"WellBe has proven its ability to significantly improve the quality and health outcomes for the sickest and most frail in our communities," said Mary Tolan, founder and managing partner of CPF. "We are passionate about WellBe's commitment to providing the level of care we want for our family members and loved ones. The patient outcomes speak profoundly of the company."
"All of us have had an elderly friend or family member whose health increased in complexity with age, limiting every aspect of their life," said Dr. Jeffrey Kang, founder and CEO of WellBe Senior Medical. "This makes traditional office-based care inconvenient, unresponsive and often unavailable when it's needed. Instead of trying to bring these frail patients to the care, the solution is to bring the care to the patient, in the comfort of their own home.
"We've found that WellBe can provide more than 90% of what occurs in a primary care doctor's office conveniently at home. Access to WellBe's in-home geriatric care should be available to everyone, which is why we're passionate about partnering with payers nationwide, removing yet another barrier to care for patients," Kang continued. "This collaboration with CVS Health Ventures fuels our mission to share our proven care model with more payers, more communities and more patients."
