Health insurer Humana and DrFirst, a healthcare technology company focused on medication management, launched a program aimed at closing gaps in care for patients with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, while helping healthcare providers.
Humana says it is joining forces with DrFirst to connect with prescribers within the clinical workflow.
By utilizing the DrFirst prescription orchestration platform, Humana will have the ability to initiate new prescription recommendations for high-risk patients and submit them to healthcare providers for deliberation.
The first phase of the program aims to expand statin therapy utilization among eligible patients, conforming to a crucial quality metric from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Providers will have the means to approve the prescription recommendation, generate a new prescription or explain why it is not the proper choice for patients.
DrFirst's platform aims to convert disconnected workflows into real-time clinical collaboration.
Additionally, the rules-based system allows for interoperability among healthcare participants, including providers, pharmacies and payers, to close gaps in patient information and collaborate to enhance patient outcomes.
"We’re not just flagging care opportunities, we’re making sure they get to providers in a way that’s timely and easy to act on," Bethanie Stein, president of pharmacy at Humana, said in a statement.
"By reaching providers in their workflow, we’re freeing them to focus on patient care, which in turn can help address gaps in care, promote quality and lead to better health outcomes."
In a statement, Laizer Kornwasser, DrFirst CEO, noted that the partnership with Humana is about more than innovative technology; he said it is about better patient outcomes.
THE LARGER TREND
Humana has formed numerous partnerships with digital health companies.
In June, Longevity Health extended its partnership with Humana through 2030, which began in 2023.
Longevity partners with skilled nursing facility operators via a transparent value-based model that rewards facilities for improving quality of care and member experience. The expanded partnership provided special needs health plan offerings for Medicare-eligible individuals living in skilled nursing and senior living facilities.
That same month, Mercy and Humana teamed up to open 65 new Prime+ by Mercy Primary Care clinics, designed to allow Medicare patients aged 65 and older to access care, education and support. Each clinic will be able to care for up to 2,000 new patients.
In May, Dreem Health, a digital sleep clinic managed by The Sunrise Group, announced a partnership with Humana to increase the health insurer's members' access to Dreem's sleep technologies and services
Humana also partnered with value-based cancer care platform Thyme Care in March to provide oncology support for its Medicare Advantage members who reside in Michigan, New York, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In July, DrFirst partnered with New Jersey-based Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH), which integrated new AI tools directly into its Epic EHR system. The aim was for doctors and nurses to access patient medication histories and insurance information.
In 2021, DrFirst collected a $50 million equity investment from Sixth Street Growth, following the firm's $35 million investment from the previous year.
