Qliance direct primary care
Program Location:
Seattle, WA
Payer Type:
Commercial
Payers:
Employers
Medicaid
Reported Outcomes
Description:
Qliance is a national leader in the burgeoning direct primary care movement, whose adherents provide unrestricted access to primary care through longer appointments, extended hours, and phone and electronic communications with providers so patients can take care of health needs promptly and avoid downstream care and costs.
Qliance clinics are designed to address approximately 90 percent of the issues for which patients seek a doctor's care, including all routine primary and preventive care. This includes women's health services, pediatric care, urgent care, wellness education, ongoing chronic disease management, select onsite procedures and diagnostics, as well as coordination of outside specialist and hospital care by a Qliance provider.
The company partners with employers including Expedia, Comcast, Seattle Firefighters' Union, and more. Qliance also added 15,000 new Medicaid patients to its rolls in 2014, opened two new Puget Sound clinics, and became the first "direct primary care" provider in the country to join traditional health plans on the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchange. Revenue for the 32-provider private company grew 300 percent in 2014, according to Qliance President and Chief Executive Officer Erika Bliss.
Payment Model:
"For a flat fee every month, patients have unlimited access to their doctor–in person and by phone or email–for routine things like checkups, cuts and burns, infections, flu shots and skin exams, as well as chronic-condition maintenance like blood tests for diabetes or high cholesterol."
Fewer ED / Hospital Visits:
Qliance Press Release (January 2015) analysis examined insurance claims data from 2013 and 2014 for approximately 4,000 Qliance patients covered by employer benefit plans, and compared the cost of their care to that of non-Qliance patients who worked for the same employers.
- The ~20% savings were driven by a marked reduction in expensive emergency room visits, inpatient care, specialist visits, and advanced radiology
Improved Patient/Clinician Satisfaction:
Qliance Press Release (January 2015)
- A 2014 assessment of Qliance's patients' experience, conducted using the national CAHPS survey, placed Qliance above the 95th percentile in overall patient satisfaction, well above the 90th percentile nationally
Cost Savings:
Qliance Press Release (January 2015)
- Savings of $679,000 per 1,000 Qliance patients on total claims –19.6 percent less than the total claims for non-Qliance patients during the same period.
Data Source(s):
Last updated March 2015
