Guideway Care Announces Program Results: Meeting Goals of New CMS Enhancing Oncology Model

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Guideway Care, advancing health equity by resolving patient barriers related to social determinants of health (SDoH), optimizing patient outcomes and lowering total costs in Value-Based Care, announces the compelling results of its approach to successfully address the objectives of the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), a five-year voluntary model announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Guideway’s proven Service as a Solution helps oncology practices achieve EOM program goals which aim to improve quality and reduce costs through payment incentives and required participant redesign activities.

Greer Myers, president, Guideway Care says, “Inequalities in cancer care are linked to SDoH and healthcare organizations must resolve to not only talk about the issue, but to also take actions to eliminate the barriers caused by health-related social needs. Guideway Care recently celebrated its 10^th year partnering with health care organizations to solve health equity related to patient barriers.”

Guideway Care hires and extensively trains Care Guides who successfully address SDoH and disparity-related barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Care Guides build peer-to-patient relationships that identify and resolve non-clinical barriers, escalate clinical barriers to the proper clinical teams, and eliminate the consequences of these disparities which are even more pronounced among lower-income, minority and rural populations.

“The use of Guideway’s proprietary platform, which guides and informs patient activation, captures and communicates relevant data back to healthcare organizations, such as data elements required under the EOM,” continues Myers. “These capabilities directly address EOM aspirations to improve health care providers’ ability to deliver care centered around patients, consider patients’ unique needs, and deliver cancer care in a way that will generate the best possible patient outcomes.”

For one oncology program operating under a Value-Based Care model for three years, Care Guides:

• Initiated 70K encounters with 6k patients
• Resolved 98% of barriers
• Conducted 135K activities
• Drove greater than 58% improvement in Medicare oncology patient first visit adherence

Oncologists claim SDoH significantly impact outcomes for cancer patients. The American Cancer Society acknowledges that a prognosis for cancer is correlated with the quality of care receive based on SDoH factors. Guideway Care studies shown that more than 80% of the identified barriers do not require clinical escalation, which substantially improves capacity within the partner client’s clinical team.

“Our approach is documented to deliver a 3-8x ROI for cancer programs, with 90th percentile patient satisfaction ratings and 60% decrease in ICU admissions for cancer patients,” reports Myers. “The company’s origins began in 2012 through a $15 million CMMI grant to prove the thesis that lay cancer navigators could improve quality, patient satisfaction and decrease cost. The three-year pilot enrolled 6,000 patients and generated $57 million in savings. The results, subsequently released in published studies, demonstrates Guideway’s oncology model is efficient and effective at driving an equitable path forward for all cancer patients.”

About Guideway Care

For more than 10 years Guideway has delivered a proven, scalable technology-enabled Service as a Solution for advancing health equity in Value-Based Care. Partnering with hospitals/health systems, payers and provider organizations, Guideway reduces health disparities, improves patient/member satisfaction and lowers total cost of care. Highly trained Care Guides, supported by a proprietary technology platform, build peer-to patient relationships that allow for the identification and resolution of non-clinical and clinical barriers to accessing quality care. By maximizing the patient care experience and resolving barriers that lead to avoidable deterioration and acute care utilization, the Guideway approach to patient activation creates value for all stakeholders. www.guidewaycare.com