Crain's New York Business by crains-new-york-business

HEALTH CARE

LiveOnNY, MediSys kick off new Medical system organ-procurement process expands house calls BY JENNIFER HENDERSON

iveOnNY, the nonprofit organ-procurement organization for the greater New York area, told Crain’s exclusively that it has partnered with Queens-based MediSys Health Network to implement an automated organ-donation referral system. The new platform, from Santa Monica, Calif., medical software company Transplant Connect, went live locally at the end of July. Called iReferral, its use at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, part of MediSys, marks its first use in New York and third nationwide. Hospitals are mandated by the

To speed up the communication, the viability of organs and especialthe iReferral system allows for pa- ly tissues, Irving said. The iReferral tient data to be transferred in real system allows for automatically time from a hospital’s electronic prescreening patients for precludmedical records to those ing conditions, such as of a procurement organicancer or sepsis. “We know that when zation, said Helen Irving, we have an earlier referpresident and CEO of NUMBER of LiveOnNY. In turn, the orral, we have a better oporgans LiveOnNY portunity of a family sayganization is able to send was hoping would ing yes to donation,” she a representative to the be transplanted added. hospital without first havin 2020, from more Nationwide, ing to speak with a doctor 400 organ donors than 70% of procureor nurse. The system is expected ment organizations use to help improve the effiTransplant Connect’s ciency of the overall donation pro- electronic medical records softcess, Irving said. ware. “It really automates the referral LiveOnNY, based in Hudson process,” Irving Yards, received a small grant to imsaid of iReferral. “In plement iReferral, and the hope is the future we to expand its use to additional area should all be con- hospitals, Irving said. This is important because the nected.” Initial calls from pandemic devastated local organ hospitals to organ- donation in the first half of the year, procurement organizations can be on the heels of a record 2019. Before delayed during peak times. Once Covid-19, LiveOnNY was targeting made, it can take between 10 and 30 about 400 organ donors and 1,100 minutes to source information organs transplanted this year. In about whether an organ is suitable June it recorded 25 organ donors and nearly 70 transplants, starting for donation, she said. Time is critical when it comes to its way back up to normal levels. ■

THE PANDEMIC DEVASTATED LOCAL ORGAN DONATION IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to refer all deaths to their local organ-procurement organization. However, the notification process currently involves hospital staff placing a call to such organizations, LiveOnNY said.

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BY SHUAN SIM

ollis Health, a members-only concierge medical system, last Monday announced the expansion of its house-calls service into Long Island, the lower and mid– Hudson Valley as well as parts of Connecticut and New Jersey. Sollis, based in Manhattan, promises no waiting time at its two local clinics and offers 24/7 telemedicine capabilities and home visits. The regional expansion of its house calls would extend Covid-19 testing and management services, including X-rays and medication, in addition to non-Covid-19-related services, to members in those areas. House calls in the Hudson Valley, New Jersey and Connecticut would be served by staff from the company’s clinics in Tribeca and the Upper East Side, and calls from Long Island would be served either by staff from the Manhattan clinics or doctors in the Hamptons, said Sabine Heller, chief commercial officer of Sollis Health. The expansion was driven by the company’s observation of a significant increase in demand for house calls as clinic visits declined during

the pandemic. House calls to patients increased by 50% in March and April and steadily increased in the next few months. The expansion is expected to provide a 15% increase in such encounters on an annualized basis, Heller said. “What we’re doing here is providing our members with an alternative to clinic visits” Heller said. Sollis brought on an additional 30 staffers, including doctors, nurses and physician assistants, as part of the expansion. The house-calls team of 50 will provide medical service within 48 hours of the booking of an appointment, according to a press release. Sollis has approximately 4,000 members and works with 30 corporations across the nation, including Hudson Yards-based real estate firm The Related Cos., Heller said. She declined to provide revenue figures but noted that individual membership costs range from $3,000 to $5,000 per year for those under 45 and over 45, respectively, and family memberships on average cost $8,000 per year. The firm also entered the Los Angeles market in July and expects to open a medical center there in late September. ■

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