DispatchHealth Partners with UCI Health to Bring In-Home Medical Care to Southern California Residents

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Nov 18, 2021, 11:00 ET

DENVER and ORANGE, Calif., Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DispatchHealth, the nation's first comprehensive in-home medical care provider, today announced its partnership with UCI Health, to provide patients same-day, in-home medical care. The partnership is designed to improve access to care, deliver a better patient experience and reduce the total cost of care for patients throughout Orange County, California.

"UCI Health is honored to be the first healthcare system in California to offer our patients and the community this exciting program," said UCI Health CEO Chad T. Lefteris. "As Orange County's only academic health system, we are dedicated to finding novel ways to improve access to care, especially among patients whose health needs do not require a hospital stay."

DispatchHealth's complete platform delivers, provides, and coordinates medical care to patients in their homes. Patients can request DispatchHealth's acute medical care for a wide range of injuries and illnesses, including viral infections, COPD exacerbations, congestive heart failure and more.

"Healthcare is rapidly changing and what our patients want has evolved throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Our innovative partnership with DispatchHealth is one more step forward towards building a community benefit and part of our spectrum of solutions to expanding access to care, in a high-quality, safe and sustainable way," said UCI Health Executive Director of Virtual Care Susanna Rustad. "DispatchHealth will help us meet our patients where they are and where they want to receive care, in their homes."

To request care, patients can call 949-594-0447 or visit DispatchHealth.com, no referral is needed. Once requested, an emergency care-trained DispatchHealth medical team arrives at the patient's home equipped with the necessary tools and treatments to treat the patient in the home, including on-site diagnostics and a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act)-certified lab. DispatchHealth is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays.

"For the past eight years, DispatchHealth has focused on lowering the access to care barriers while also providing the best patient experience. Many health systems have a strong desire to deliver home-based care, and DispatchHealth can provide a proven platform to quickly extend care outside of the typical clinic and hospital setting," said Dr. Mark Prather, CEO and co-founder of DispatchHealth. "Our partnership with UCI Health combines both organization's focus on value-based care with the proven convenience of effective care in the home."

Additionally, as part of this partnership, patients identified as being at high-risk of readmission will have access to proactive in-home care 24-72 hours post-discharge from an acute care hospital stay. This service, known as DispatchHealth Bridge Care, helps identify gaps in care and bridge the patient back to their primary care physician or specialist in the community.

Since its founding in 2013, DispatchHealth's unique model of care has proven to save an average of $1,100-1,700 per acute care visit. The UCI Health and DispatchHealth partnership brings a combined focus on continuous improvement of patient health outcomes at a lower cost.

About DispatchHealth
DispatchHealth is building the world's largest in-home care system to deliver trusted and compassionate care to all. DispatchHealth offers on-demand acute care and an advanced level of medical care for people of all ages in the comfort of their own homes. DispatchHealth's emergency medicine and internal medicine trained medical teams are equipped with all the tools necessary to treat common to complex injuries and illnesses. DispatchHealth works closely with payers, providers, health systems, EMS, employer groups and others to deliver care in the home to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits, hospital stays and readmissions. Acute care medical teams are available seven days a week, evenings and holidays and can be requested via app, online or a quick phone call. DispatchHealth is partnered with most major insurance companies. For more information, visit DispatchHealth.com.

About UCI Health
UCI Health is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, and the only academic health system in Orange County. Patients can access UCI Health at primary and specialty care offices across Orange County and at its main campus, UCI Medical Center in Orange, Calif. The 418-bed acute care hospital, listed among America's Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report for 21 consecutive years, provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation services. UCI Medical Center is home to Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center and regional burn center. UCI Health serves a region of nearly 4 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.