Ayble Health, a digital health platform for patients with chronic gastrointestinal conditions, has announced a new collaboration with the Mayo Clinic.
Ayble is working with the Mayo Clinic Complex Care Program to offer a hybrid care model that matches patients with the appropriate virtual and in-person care based on acuity and need.
By matching the right care for a patient at the right time, the two hope to improve outcomes and costs for digestive diseases. The collaboration is available for large employers and health plans.
The Mayo Clinic Complex Care Program offers expedited scheduling and condensed appointment itineraries to patients with complex, rare or undiagnosed medical conditions. It has been ranked number one in GI care for nearly 35 years, Ayble said, and is at the forefront of research in pursuit of better treatments for patients.
Up to 70 million Americans live with chronic GI conditions like IBS and IBD, which generate $140 billion in healthcare costs collectively a year. These conditions can also come with symptoms so severe they lead to meaningful impacts on work productivity, Ayble said. As such, a one-size-fits-all solution, like a virtual clinic model, cannot meet the needs of every patient, per Ayble’s founder and CEO Sam Jactel.
Virtual-only models only cost-effectively address part of the population, Jactel explained. The high-cost basis of care makes it too expensive for lower acuity patients and fails to provide the hands-on, multidisciplinary care needed for complex patients.
“Our goal generally with this collaboration is to make it available to as many people as needed,” Jactel told Fierce Healthcare.
Ayble and Mayo will work together to match patient acuity with the appropriate virtual, in-person or combined virtual and in-person care. The process begins with a review of the relevant employee or member population, after which there is a streamlined contracting process enabling customers to go live in weeks, not months.
Ayble’s platform provides evidence-based nutrition and psychology programs for digestive patients, while Mayo’s program helps patients quickly see an expert with a payer-sponsored travel and lodging benefit for those who need care in person. Together, they handle all education to employees and members, and a dedicated account manager provides regular reporting and insights on outcomes.
“We’re excited to work with Ayble Health to better help individuals get exactly the GI care they need,” Elizabeth Rice, senior director of the Mayo Clinic Complex Care Program, said in an announcement. “Not every GI patient needs to travel to Mayo Clinic for care, many can be well-managed via the Ayble platform. However, if a patient becomes more complex, the ability to seamlessly expedite access to Mayo Clinic experts can result in better outcomes and improved patient experience.”
In terms of the portion of Ayble patients Jactel expects to qualify for the Mayo program, he expects it to be in the single digits. The vast majority will be able to get better by using Ayble's platform only, he said.
Jactel hopes the collaboration will serve as an example of how digital health companies can enhance care by working with existing providers rather than competing. “We need to engage the full community,” Jactel said. “Ayble in collaboration with others is even more powerful.”