Solera Health, a digital platform that offers a marketplace for benefits and chronic disease management programs, announced that it is teaming up with Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute on a new program that will focus on social determinants of health. 

The plan is for Solera Health to work with BCBS and tailor its platform to link people up with community-based providers and other resources that could contribute to social determinants of health. It will match patients to resources that fit their personal needs, goals or care plans. The idea is to provide support to patients outside of the inpatient setting. According to the companies, the resources will be paid for through outcomes-based claims.

WHY IT MATTERS

According to the CDC, social determinants of health include everything from food security to housing status, and income to access to health services. These factors can impact an individual’s health risks and outcomes. 

“The future of healthcare prevention moves away from the clinical setting into the community setting. This transition means that food, fitness and transportation will become an integral component of how we evaluate holistic approaches to the health and well-being of our population,” Dr. Trent Haywood, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute, said in a statement. “The collaboration with Solera will help us to better understand how we can address social determinants of health quicker and more effectively.”

WHAT'S THE TREND

This isn’t the first major deal for Solera in recent news. Earlier this month the company announced that it had inked a deal with Fitbit, providing all Solera DPP enrollees Inspire and Inspire HR devices, including Medicare and Medicaid plan members. 

It also made a deal with California Food is Medicine Coalition, enabling the former’s medical nutrition therapy intervention to be covered under California Medicaid. 

The company has been picking up funding in recent years. In July of 2017 it raked in $18.3 million in new funding, bringing the total amount to $30.3 million. 

ON THE RECORD

“The Blue Cross Blue Shield Institute and Solera Health strategic collaboration was conceived around our organizations’ mutual recognition that in order for healthcare to have the maximum impact on individuals, care must reach beyond the four walls of the doctor’s office and extend to the community,” Brenda Schmidt, CEO of Solera Health, said in a statement. “To help improve overall health outcomes, Solera’s proven, curated network and payment innovation model is being applied to address social determinants of health, connecting BCBS plan members with a diverse array of local resources that best meet their unique needs and preferences. We look forward to seeing the full impact of the initiative as it scales nationally in the coming months.”