LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SCAN Health Plan, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, is now providing in-home COVID-19 vaccinations to homebound plan members and their families in Los Angeles County. The vaccination program, the first of its kind, is made possible through a unique partnership between SCAN and MedArrive, a logistics platform that enables healthcare payers and providers to seamlessly extend care services into the home, unlocking access to highly qualified, trusted EMTs and Paramedics.
This morning, the first group of Falck/Care Ambulance Service EMTs began providing vaccine shots to SCAN members, orchestrated via the MedArrive platform.
Nationally, between 2 million and 4.4 million older adults are homebound, according to the Washington Post. A few state and non-profit agencies are making plans to vaccinate this extremely vulnerable group, but so far priority for vaccine distribution has gone to mass vaccination sites and pharmacies. Unfortunately, many homebound adults have multiple chronic conditions or are cognitively impaired and cannot easily get to vaccination sites.
SCAN is taking matters into its own hands and vaccinating members, caregivers and family members in their homes. The vaccines are being administered by trained EMTs at no cost to the members. Caregivers and other eligible household members are also receiving the vaccine at no cost.
“SCAN is committed to providing lifesaving COVID-19 vaccinations to all of our members, including homebound older adults,” said Dr. Sachin Jain, president and CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan. “We also recognize that many homebound seniors live in multifamily or multigenerational homes, so we’re vaccinating caregivers and relatives in order to extend immunity to entire households, which is a key component of keeping seniors protected against the coronavirus.”
Over the past two weeks, MedArrive team members have made hundreds of outreach calls in English and Spanish to homebound SCAN members who reside in Los Angeles County. During these calls, MedArrive representatives have helped people schedule their vaccination appointments and answered questions about vaccine safety. SCAN and MedArrive are targeting an initial group of more than 1,000 homebound adults in Los Angeles County to ensure they are vaccinated.
“We built the MedArrive platform specifically for partners like SCAN so they can enable those they care for to access trusted medical expertise from the comfort and safety of their homes without any interruption to the continuity of care, ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes, a better-utilized healthcare workforce, and significant cost savings for patients and providers alike,” said Dan Trigub, CEO and co-founder of MedArrive. “These vaccinations are a powerful use-case demonstrating Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) and its ability to help some of our most vulnerable populations. Through MedArrive’s technology we can meet patients where they are with the highest-quality care.”
“Many people have concerns about allergic and other reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines—all conditions that our trained teams of EMS professionals know how to respond to in in-home settings,” said Michael Gorman, CEO of Care Ambulance Service.
About a dozen Care Ambulance EMTs are currently administering the vaccines to SCAN members.
SCAN has more than 220,000 members in California. SCAN will begin vaccinating homebound seniors in Orange County in May and is in discussions with county health departments to bring the groundbreaking vaccine program to homebound members across the state.
For more information about the in-home vaccination program, visit https://medarrive.com/scan.
About SCAN Health Plan
SCAN Health Plan is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plans, serving more than 220,000 members in California. Since its founding in 1977, SCAN has been a mission-driven organization dedicated to keeping seniors healthy and independent. Independence at Home, a SCAN community service, provides vitally needed services and support to seniors and their caregivers regardless of plan membership. SCAN also offers education programs, community funding, volunteer opportunities and other community services throughout our California service area. To learn more, visit scanhealthplan.com or follow us on Twitter @scanhealthplan.
About MedArrive
MedArrive enables healthcare providers to seamlessly extend care services into the home, unlocking access to high-quality healthcare for more people at a fraction of the cost. MedArrive’s fully integrated care management platform allows providers and payors to bridge the virtual care gap by marrying physician-led telemedicine with hands-on care from EMS professionals, both EMTs and Paramedics. This unique approach means that patients can access trusted medical expertise from the comfort and safety of their homes without any interruption to the continuity of care, ultimately resulting in better patient outcomes, a better-utilized healthcare workforce, and significant cost savings for patients and providers alike. MedArrive has more than 20k highly-skilled EMS providers in its national network, and services span dozens of clinical use cases, including chronic condition management, transitional care, readmission prevention, urgent care, vaccinations, palliative care, and more. For more information, visit medarrive.com.
About Care Ambulance
Falck Mobile Health/Care Ambulance Service is the primary provider of emergency 911 ambulance service for more than five million people in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, with approximately 1,400 EMTs, Paramedics, and Registered Nurses on staff. Around the world, Falck provides emergency response and healthcare services in 30 countries and employs more than 27,000 people.
