RamaOnHealthcare April 25, 2022
SCAN Group and Commonwealth Care Alliance Join Forces to Launch a New Integrated Care Model: myPlace Health.
Today, RamaOnHealthcare talks with Robbie Pottharst, Founder and CEO of myPlace Health about launching this organization and its unique model.
Robbie Pottharst, Founder and CEO of myPlace Health
Studies show that adults 50 and older strongly wish to remain in their homes as they age. However, our nation’s health care delivery system doesn’t yet meet this need, especially for older adults who become disabled or have limited means. SCAN Group (SCAN) and Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA), two not-for-profit healthcare leaders with expertise in serving low-income and high-needs older adults, recognized this deficit in our system and partnered to launch myPlace Health. myPlace Health is a new integrated care delivery organization that specializes in providing personalized care for older adults who wish to remain living safely in their homes and communities.
myPlace Health is a new integrated care delivery organization that specializes in providing personalized care for older adults who wish to remain living safely in their homes and communities.
Healthcare veteran Robbie Pottharst is the founder and CEO of myPlace Health. In this Q&A, he speaks with us about the inspiration that led to launching this organization, the value of strategic partnerships, and what makes the myPlace Health model unique.
RamaOnHealthcare (ROH): How did you get involved in myPlace Health?
Robbie Pottharst (RP): This is a personal calling for me because I’ve seen firsthand in my own family how incredibly important it is for our nation’s health system to provide access to high quality healthcare to older adults in ways that allow them to age in place in the community. I wanted to bring this lived experience to the next thing that I focus on in my career.
ROH: How did SCAN and CCA get involved?
…the complexity of the model requires specific capabilities and focus….
RP: SCAN and CCA came together to sponsor the myPlace Health idea because they share a common mission-focused DNA and the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model directly aligns with their diversification strategies. Both organizations appreciated PACE as a gold standard aging-in-place care model and also recognized that the complexity of the model requires specific capabilities and focus – especially as an integrated care delivery model for seniors who are frail and have complex health and social needs. myPlace Health has quickly evolved into a unique opportunity to partner with a consortium of health plans and community-based organizations that also see PACE as a direct extension of their missions. It’s an excellent example of how the right organizational and leadership commitment within incumbent health care organizations can lead their teams to build important new health businesses that push the industry forward.
…the right organizational and leadership commitment within incumbent health care organizations can lead their teams to build important new health businesses that push the industry forward.
ROH: How does myPlace Health serve older adults?
RP: myPlace Health is a care delivery model that specializes in serving frail seniors and vulnerable older adults who wish to live in their homes and communities for as long as safely possible, rather than in a nursing home. The primary ways in which we do this are through the PACE model and as a value-based provider working in partnership with our local health plan partners.
ROH: What distinguishes myPlace from other PACE programs?
RP: First, we recognize that PACE is an established gold standard care model and our team is standing on the shoulders of literally hundreds of other mission-driven organizations and community leaders who have poured their life’s work into establishing PACE as a consistently high performing care model. We plan to thoughtfully build upon this extensive body of work.
Second, our foundation of SCAN and CCA sponsorship seeds us with an incredible mission, brings tried and true capabilities to learn from, and gives us the resources we need to focus on the specific communities we can serve together.
…we see an acceleration of technology adoption, value-based care, and care shifting into the home setting.
Furthermore, we have an opportunity to build myPlace Health at a unique moment in time where we see an acceleration of technology adoption, value-based care, and care shifting into the home setting. With these trends in mind, we’re building myPlace Health with a set of strategic themes that we call “the four P’s”:
- Partnerships: transformative collaborations with premier local strategic partners that share our mission and have deep community roots in each market.
- People: an intentionally designed culture of clinical excellence, team-based interdisciplinary care, and regulatory compliance.
- Platforms: an integrated care platform that enables delivery and dissemination of best practices at scale.
- Populations: a care model designed to meet the needs of older adults, those who are eligible for PACE and others who have similar clinical needs.
ROH: You mention mission. Could you share your Mission Statement with us?
RP: Our mission is to enable seniors to live the independent lives they deserve.
Our mission is to enable seniors to live the independent lives they deserve.
ROH: What types of disciplines and services will you provide for elders in their home?
RP: The home is an important extension of our care model and in some cases the primary site of care. We will provide a comprehensive set of interdisciplinary services that extend into the home in addition to advanced supports for caregivers, who are important members of the care team.
ROH: Finally, technology is becoming so prevalent in all aspects of healthcare. Can you share with us what role you see it playing to keep the elderly safely at home?
RP: We will utilize technology to reinforce and scale our model of care. The proliferation of new health tech companies in our industry gives us many options that can be sourced externally. We plan to carefully develop an ecosystem of partners, which will enable us to build a forward-looking PACE program with best-of-breed capabilities.
About Robbie Pottharst
Robbie Pottharst is the Founder and CEO of myPlace Health, an integrated care delivery organization backed by SCAN Group and Commonwealth Care Alliance that will provide personalized care to older adults through the PACE model and as a value-based provider working in partnership with local health plans. Pottharst is a healthcare veteran with decades of experience leading innovative healthcare services businesses. Prior to taking the helm of myPlace Health, he served in executive leadership roles at CareMore Health, Kaiser Permanente and Cityblock Health. He received his Master of Healthcare Administration from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he received his Bachelor of Science from Hampden[1]Sydney College.