Targeting an Emerging At-Risk Population, Arcadia Provides Free Outreach Reminders about the Importance of Routine Pediatric Care and Vaccinations
Population health leader warns that falling behind on children’s immunization schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to outbreaks of infectious diseases such as mumps, measles and pertussis
Arcadia (arcadia.io), a widely-recognized leader in population health management, announced today that it is making its Arcadia Outreach module available at no cost to its health plan and provider partners so they can communicate directly with patient families and caregivers about pediatric vaccination needs and other gaps in care. Outreach works within Arcadia’s HITRUST CSF-certified population health management platform—Arcadia Analytics—and enables patients with gaps in vaccine administration to receive texts and automated calls engaging them with vaccine information from sources they trust.
A troubling drop in routine childhood vaccinations puts communities at risk
In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report documenting a troubling drop in routine childhood vaccinations. Parents and caregivers are deferring routine annual care due to concerns about contracting COVID-19 in health care settings. However, the American Association of Pediatrics continues to urge pediatricians and families to schedule visits for immunizations against several different diseases. Even though many school districts may offer virtual learning options, parents and caregivers still need to see their pediatricians for critical routine office visits and immunizations.
“Due to the disruption of care from COVID-19, many regions are falling behind on the standard immunization schedules for babies, children and young adults,” said Rich Parker, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Arcadia. “We’ve seen resurgences of infectious diseases like measles, pertussis, and mumps over the last couple of years, and delaying vaccinations due to COVID-19 fears puts our young people and their families further at risk. We need coordinated outreach efforts to ensure our children get their necessary annual checkups and receive critical vaccines.”
Arcadia Outreach will enable the engagement of millions of patients for vaccines and preventive care
Arcadia Analytics is used to measure and support the health of over 100 million patients by some of the largest health plans and health systems in the country, improving value-based care performance, population health management and patient outcomes. Arcadia Outreach powers large-scale patient communication initiatives via multiple modes, including SMS text messaging, email and automated calls.
Healthcare organizations can use Arcadia’s machine learning assisted patient stratification engine and rules-based outreach campaigns to tailor the right message for the right patient. Patients can get educational information from trusted sources, be reminded to schedule appointments, and share information and outcomes with their providers via a secure mobile friendly survey and data collection tool. This approach to Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) ensures accurate information on the patient, adds administrative efficiency and increases contract performance.
More than a dozen Arcadia customers have been using Arcadia Outreach to engage patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, combating misinformation about the coronavirus, conducting symptom screening, engaging high-risk patients with behavioral health services, offering telehealth appointments and reminding parents about the importance of childhood vaccinations.
By continuing to enable our customers to reach out to their more vulnerable populations at no cost, Arcadia will enable even more of its health plan and provider partners to communicate directly with parents and caregivers about pediatric vaccination needs. These critical outreach and engagement capabilities further help providers and office staff proactively communicate with parents and caregivers, schedule exams and necessary vaccinations, and provide information about office procedures to keep them safe from COVID-19.
“By providing this free resource to our partners, we are demonstrating our commitment to supporting providers and care teams—especially in light of COVID-19—to help them with their necessary public health work of getting children vaccinated,” Dr. Parker said. “The current pandemic has thrown many substantial barriers to care at nearly everyone, and we’re working to alleviate additional stresses on an overtaxed healthcare system.”
