Curative’s Baseline Visit: The First Step in Innovative Healthcare
10 Minutes
Team Curative
May 22, 2024
At Curative, our mission was clear from the start: create a healthcare experience that transcends traditional models by directly tackling the issues of affordability and engagement.
Too often, financial barriers prevent people from seeking vital healthcare services. At the same time, busy lifestyles derail efforts to prioritize the very activities and checkups that keep us healthy. Curative's innovative solution? The Baseline Visit.
At the heart of Curative's concept is a transformative first step: a Baseline Visit that doesn't cost members a penny out of pocket but promises to guide and inspire a proactive engagement with their health. By integrating this pivotal visit into their health plan, Curative ensures that every member takes important time out of their hectic schedules to lay a foundation for better health outcomes.
Read on to explore how the Baseline Visit paves the way for a healthier workforce, forges stronger connections with primary care, and aligns perfectly with Curative's mission to offer a health plan that truly makes a difference.
Unlocking the Full Potential of Healthcare Benefits
The existence of a healthcare plan, even an innovative healthcare plan, doesn’t mean it is being used to its full potential.
Employees often underutilize their health insurance benefits because they don’t understand them. Curative’s national survey found that 33 percent of respondents had trouble navigating their health insurance, and 39 percent didn’t even know what expenses were covered by their plan.
Because of complex and confusing health plans, employees struggle with understanding their benefits. This leads to employees deferring acute and chronic care even if their services are covered, leading to worse health, member dissatisfaction, reduced adherence to treatment, and lower productivity. This is why Curative does things differently and engages your employees from the start with the Baseline Visit.
Curative’s Baseline Visit Eliminates Roadblocks
Curative’s Baseline Visit is where preventive care starts for all Curative members. This a virtual consultation done from the comfort of home, with onsite options in Austin, Texas. It includes unrushed time with a clinician, followed by a meeting with a Curative Care Navigator to help understand the benefits of the Curative plan and connect to available resources.
This visit helps your employees feel less intimidated by the healthcare system and empowers them to take ownership of their health journey. Best of all, this service is 100 percent free and confidential.
Meeting with a Clinician
The journey to a Baseline Visit begins even before members meet with Curative. Upon signing up, members are asked to complete a questionnaire that nsures the clinician and Care Navigator are already informed and can tailor the visit to their specific needs. Additionally, Curative offers an option for bloodwork to be done in advance. For in-person visits in Austin, Curative can also conduct real-time labs on-site, an essential tool for uncovering any undiagnosed conditions.
The visit itself starts on a conversational note, asking members how they're feeling and if there are any pressing issues they wish to discuss. This open-ended question sets the tone for a visit that's more of a dialogue than an examination. The clinician delves into a structured set of topics, prioritizing the review of any completed bloodwork, discussing medication regimens including adherence and whether the medications prescribed align with the plan's formulary, and covering preventive health strategies tailored to the member’s age, gender, and family history.
The approach adjusts based on the member's level of openness. For those more willing to engage, we dive deeper into health discussions. Conversely, with those who are less forthcoming, we focus on building rapport and providing them the space to open up at their own pace. Regardless of the demeanor, the goal remains the same: to develop a concrete plan for the member to achieve their health objectives. This is particularly vital if we discover any previously undiagnosed conditions, at which point we immediately involve a Care Navigator to connect the member with suitable in-network services.
In an exciting opportunity for continuity of care, members in Texas who resonate with their clinician can choose to continue their healthcare journey with them as their patients with Curative Primary Care.
Meeting with the Curative Care Navigator
Care Navigators enrich the member experience, ensuring each member receives the personalized support they need. From the outset, each member is matched with a dedicated Care Navigator, visible within their member portal, encouraging early communication even before the scheduled Baseline visit.
The Baseline Visit is the first face-to-face meeting and sets the stage for a comprehensive exploration of the member's health plan benefits. Unlike traditional health plans that may leave members to navigate the complexities on their own, Curative Care Navigators personally guide members through their benefits in straightforward terms.
But their support doesn't stop there. Care Navigators ensure members are fully integrated into the network by confirming their access to all the in-network resources they might need. This includes helping to set up care with a Primary Care Provider and utilizing the Provider Lookup tool for convenient access to healthcare professionals, whether closer to home or work. They also assist with finding specialists, registering for telehealth services, and ensuring any local or Curative Pharmacy prescription transfers are seamless.
The aim of these interactions is not just administrative but deeply personal. By the end of their time with the Care Navigator, members are left with a profound understanding of the resources at their disposal, tailored to help them achieve their health objectives. This unique, guided navigation through the health plan landscape embodies Curative’s commitment to not just exceptional health coverage, but to fostering a supportive, understanding, and accessible health journey for every member.
Once members complete the Baseline Visit, employees will have more agency in their health and access to $0 out-of-pocket costs for in-network care through their Curative health insurance plan.
The Baseline Visit Begins the Journey to Better Health
Following their Curative Baseline Visit, patients will immediately have a better understanding of where they can access care.
Preventive Health Maintenance
Although not an official Annual Wellness Exam, the Curative Baseline Visit helps new members find in-network providers and facilities to seek care, discuss appropriate and upcoming age and gender-based health screenings, review vital signs and lab results, and account for family medical history.
Chronic Condition Management
An engaged approach to healthcare can help treat chronic illness and identify those conditions early.
Effective management of chronic conditions includes providing resources and treatment tools, identifying risk factors, and coordinating more innovative healthcare solutions.
Curative’s national report found that 47 percent of respondents report having a chronic condition. However:
26 percent have never had cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies.
32 percent have never been tested for hypertension.
30 percent have never been tested for diabetes.
According to Curative Baseline Visit data, 90 percent or more people with chronic conditions were identified through a Baseline Visit. That means the health plan can help tailor resources earlier, instead of waiting for a claim to be processed.
Access to affordable care and screenings can also prevent chronic conditions from developing or worsening.
Utilization and Case Management
Curative case managers make the difference when it comes to utilization. They exist to eliminate roadblocks to access, making it easier for members to stay on top of their health.
Curative helps members coordinate time-sensitive interventions to address acute health concerns while planning longer-term goals and larger procedures. On average, 98 percent of Curative members complete their Baseline Visits, and more than 5 percent are engaged in complex case management compared to the national benchmark (i.e. inpatient admissions, oncology, NICU infants, transplants, end-stage renal disease, rheumatology, uncontrolled chronic disease).
Innovative Healthcare Results in a Healthier Workforce
Curative Care Navigators provide concierge service to every Curative member, so customers don’t have to navigate the healthcare system alone.
A report from the Kaiser Foundation found that 60 percent of respondents struggled with their insurance coverage, with 15 percent of them reporting it had a negative impact on their health.
Simple, accessible, and innovative healthcare means employees do not delay or avoid seeking care; as a result, they experience the improved outcomes associated with primary care.
Real Results
Here’s an anonymized case study on Curative’s Baseline Visit: George, a 45-year-old construction worker from Austin who hadn't seen a doctor in over 20 years, benefited immensely from the Curative health plan through a Baseline Visit.
During his in-person consultation, a clinician assessed his blood work and diagnosed him with Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. The clinician also discussed potential alcohol abuse problems and provided a comprehensive course of action, including lifestyle changes, medications, follow-up visits, and referrals.
George was sent home with a free blood pressure monitor and decided to continue primary care with his Curative clinician, who regularly checks in on him. Additionally, a Care Navigator connected him to Curative's Type 2 diabetes programs for close follow-up on his A1c and glucose levels, significantly improving his overall health and well-being.
Not like a Traditional HRA
Traditional health risk assessments (HRAs) often leave much to be desired. Typically, they’re impersonal, routine, and primarily benefit the health plan providers—essentially ticking off a box without fostering any real connection or understanding.
In stark contrast, Curative's Baseline Visit turns this model on its head. From the moment members embark on their healthcare journey with us, this personalized approach prioritizes human interaction. It’s not just about fulfilling a requirement; it's about establishing a firm, supportive foundation for members to leverage their health benefits fully. Our Baseline Visit ensures members have meaningful face-time with a clinician for an in-depth discussion about their health, acting as a comprehensive onboarding to their health plan.
We're changing the script by using the insights gathered during these visits to actively follow up, guiding members every step of the way. Moreover, we prepare by pulling relevant data before each visit, ensuring conversations are informed, pertinent, and actionable. This approach not only maximizes the utility of the health plan but truly invests in the member’s health journey, ensuring they feel supported from the start.
The Preventive Care Can Result in Cost Savings for Employers
The Curative Baseline Visit starts employees on the path of seeking regular preventive care. Multi-touch member engagement drives Baseline Visit participation. The Curative approach works by focusing on engagement and use through comprehensive care coordination. Engaged care simply leads to better health outcomes.
For instance, Curative has a 95 percent medication adherence rate for members with Type-2 Diabetes. Nearly half of those members are in a condition management program (30 percent in multiple). More than two-thirds of those members have an active relationship with their primary care physician.
Members with hypertension are similarly engaged with nearly half in one or more condition management programs and a 93 percent medication adherence rate.
A Congressional Budget Office report found that for every dollar spent on medication adherence, medical costs were reduced by $2.
A workforce that receives high-touch preventive care is healthier. The Curative Baseline Visit starts your employees’ high-engagement healthcare journey.
About Curative
Curative wants people to love using their health benefits. Our health plan actually delivers better health through affordability, engagement, and simplicity.
No copays. No deductibles. No...really. Curative is changing the way we view health insurance.
Looking for more information on how Care Navigators improve employee health? Check out our dedicated members page here.
To see all disclaimers, please view here.
References
“Incorporating the Effects of the Proposed Rule on Safe Harbors for Pharmaceutical Rebates in CBO's Budget Projections—Supple.” (2019) Congressional Budget Office, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-05/55151-SupplementalMaterial.pdf
Levine, Rachel. (November 2023) “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Is Taking Action to Strengthen Primary Care.” HHS.gov, https://www.hhs.gov/blog/2023/11/07/us-department-health-and-human-services-taking-action-strengthen-primary-care.html
Pollitz, Karen, et al. (June 2023) “KFF Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance.” KFF, https://www.kff.org/private-insurance/poll-finding/kff-survey-of-consumer-experiences-with-health-insurance/
Spiegel, Jake, and Paul Fronstin. (January 2023) “What Employers Say About the Future of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance.” Commonwealth Fund, https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/jan/what-employers-say-future-employer-health-insurance
