AbsoluteCare Joins CareSource in Pursuit of Health Equity

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Mar 01, 2023, 08:31 ET

Value-Based Healthcare comes to Medicaid and Medicare Members in Ohio

COLUMBIA, Md., March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AbsoluteCare, a company focused on providing innovative value-based healthcare that goes beyond medicine^™, will bring our unique approach to care to Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, in partnership with CareSource. These two new markets are scheduled to open this month.

"Our mission at CareSource is to make a lasting difference in our members' lives by improving their health and well-being," said CareSource Ohio Market President Steve Ringel. "We remain committed to working with partners like AbsoluteCare and other organizations across the industry, to ensure equal opportunity to health for all of our members. Our relationship with AbsoluteCare will help shape the future of health equity in Ohio."

AbsoluteCare focuses on the whole person, addressing our members' social determinants of health (SDoH), behavioral health, and substance use in addition to their physical health. That's what we mean by beyond medicine^™. The result of this type of care—which serves clinically complex and vulnerable members—is an improved quality of life for them and a reduction in healthcare costs for Medicaid payers.

AbsoluteCare is a PCP-driven care model that uses diverse healthcare providers, clinicians, and other professionals in our Comprehensive Care Centers as well as in the community. This results in a transformative health journey for every member.

Our care model begins with listening to our members to better understand their experience with the medical system, their social and lifestyle needs and everything that helps us better help them. AbsoluteCare and CareSource will work together to address the daily challenges members face, including homelessness, lack of available healthy foods, inequities in access to care, and transportation issues.

In addition to our Comprehensive Care Centers, what's most unique about AbsoluteCare's approach to healthcare is the deployment of Community Care Teams composed of nurse and behavioral care managers, nurse practitioners, and community health workers. These teams establish relationships with members, meeting them where they are to gain their trust and confidence—something that is often difficult to do with individuals whose needs are traditionally unmet. The teams work with community resource organizations, partners with leading health systems, community providers, and other clinicians to improve care and support eligible members.

Another unique feature of AbsoluteCare is our Transitional Care Management Teams. They visit members in hospitals and other facilities, making rounds with physicians, coordinating follow-up visits, and even driving them to and from appointments. This approach helps to improve their medical regimen adherence, reducing readmission rates and future ER visits.

"We are excited about this partnership," said Michael P. Radu, CEO, AbsoluteCare. "CareSource stands apart as a health plan that addresses the needs of its most vulnerable members. They support so many innovative SDoH initiatives that we can't help but be proud of—and honored by—this association."

About CareSource

CareSource is a nonprofit, nationally recognized managed care organization with over 2.3 million members. Headquartered in Dayton, Ohio since its founding in 1989, CareSource administers one of the largest Medicaid managed care plans in the U.S. The organization offers health insurance, including Medicaid, Health Insurance Marketplace and Medicare products. As a mission-driven organization, CareSource is transforming health care with innovative programs that address the social determinants of health, health equity, prevention and access to care.

For more, visit www.caresource.com, follow @caresource on Twitter, or like CareSource on Facebook.

About AbsoluteCare

Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, AbsoluteCare is a leading value-based integrated healthcare provider. We go beyond medicine^™ to provide comprehensive and preventive care to the most vulnerable populations. AbsoluteCare offers concierge health services using a risk-bearing, PCP-driven care model. We treat the most clinically complex members of the communities we serve—many of whom face behavioral health, substance use, and SDoH challenges. AbsoluteCare tends exclusively to the needs of the high-risk population who persistently represent a disproportionate amount of unnecessary utilization and cost, regardless of whether they are engaged with other PCPs. We deliver this care in our Comprehensive Care Centers as well as in the communities we serve. In our more than 20 years, AbsoluteCare has consistently achieved unprecedented outcomes by addressing medical and psychosocial issues, as well as life's hardships that exacerbate chronic health conditions and complicate access to care. AbsoluteCare currently operates in seven markets: Baltimore and Prince George's County, MD; Cleveland and Columbus, OH; New Orleans, LA; and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA. We have treated tens of thousands of chronically ill individuals, living up to the mission of providing care that goes beyond medicine.