AllyAlign Health (AAH), a leading convener and owner of Medicare Advantage plans designed for senior housing residents, announced in October a strategic partnership with Juniper Communities, a Bloomfield, NJ-based national owner-operator of seniors housing, to license their Connect4Life program. The partnership enables AAH to exclusively implement Connect4Life as the foundation for their CMS-approved care model as part of the company’s Medicare Advantage plans nationwide.
Juniper Communities developed Connect4Life as a blueprint for senior housing providers to introduce a preventive, coordinated care model for improving the quality of life and care of residents while saving scarce resources. Connect4Life focuses on lifestyle management, empowering senior housing owners to emphasize prevention and preservation of well-being, rather than curative and often costly medical intervention. Juniper retains the rights to continue usage of Connect4Life in its communities and future partner locations.
The Connect4Life model provides on-site comprehensive therapy, primary care, pharmacy and lab services, integrated with other services using a “high-tech/high-touch” communications protocol that transfers information through an Electronic Health Record (EHR) and coordinates care through a human navigator.
An integrated program of services in seniors housing – such as Juniper’s Connect4Life – can contribute to reducing the cost of care and services to Medicare beneficiaries residing in seniors housing. More importantly, the data points to the value of the Connect4Life model for managing population health because of its ability to efficiently target integrated care interventions in the high-cost, high-need Medicare population.
Three Key Components of the Model
- Onsite delivery of primary care and other ancillary services used to foster prevention and restore well-being among high-cost, high-need individuals.
- “High-tech” foundation for shared data and communication that measures and evaluates quality metrics to define value.
- A “high-touch” coordinator that provides a 1:1 connection between the patient and the caregivers. The coordinator also drives communication among providers, data sharing and outcomes, and is the champion and facilitator of patient engagement.
Benefits in Adoption of an Integrated Model
“As the health care industry shifts away from volume-based measures towards value-based care, hospitals, health systems, physicians, payers—and even residents—universally acknowledge that data will drive every aspect of health care over the next three decades. Data and outcomes have defined Juniper’s operational practices and innovative program development for more than a decade. This is why our Connect4Life model is gaining such steam. Juniper offers a unique alternative to more traditional senior living providers and to similarly frail seniors living in the community– one that emphasizes a richly active and engaged approach to healthy aging.”
Lynne Katzmann, CEO of Juniper Communities
“The licensing and integration of Connect4Life is indicative of AllyAlign Health’s growing partnership with continuing care retirement communities, life plan communities, and stand-alone assisted-, independent-, and memory-care living communities. Connect4Life enables us to offer a proven model designed for the full spectrum of senior living residents and the providers who serve them,” states Will Saunders, CEO of AllyAlign Health.
About Juniper Communities, LLC
Juniper Communities, a leader in quality, value and innovation in long-term care, operates communities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Colorado that emphasize residents’ individualized care needs, interaction and security. Our portfolio is mixed and includes both owner-operated properties and properties managed for a select group of investment companies. Our approach to housing and care offers residents the opportunity to live a full life, regardless of age or health. Juniper’s innovative Connect4Life program has been proven to improve residents’ care by decreasing hospitalizations, re-hospitalizations and urgent care visits, while offering potential cost savings to public programs such as Medicare. To learn more about the many ways Juniper Communities innovates in support of our residents, please visit junipercommunities.com.
About AllyAlign Health
AllyAlign Health (AAH) began reforming the health system in 2014 by enabling leading long-term care (LTC) providers to launch provider-sponsored managed care plans for vulnerable senior populations. Today we manage Medicare Advantage (MA) institutional special needs plans (I-SNPs), chronic care special needs plans (C-SNPs) for dementia, and dual-eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs) to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient quality of life. Founded by Will Saunders in Richmond, Virginia, our innovative turnkey solutions and propriety technology power health plans across the U.S. Learn more at allyalign.com.
Lisa Remington is president and publisher of the Remington Report magazine and President of Remington’s Home Care Leadership Think Tank. She has worked with more than 10,000 organizations in both a consultancy role and an educator. Lisa monitors the complex key trends and forces of change to develop a correct strategic approach to de-risk decision-making and create sustainable futures across the healthcare continuum.
