Telehealth providers Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds are teaming up with a group of large employers including Walmart, Target and Accenture, to create a digital health program that aims to reduce health disparities in Black Americans, the companies said Sept. 21.
Six details:
1. In addition to Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds Health, the following companies make up the new Black Community Innovation Coalition: Accenture, Best Buy, Genetech, Medtronic, State Farm, Target and Walmart.
2. The coalition will work together to create a care concierge and healthcare navigation platform designed to improve healthcare access for Black Americans, according to a news release.
3. "We're proud to be on the leading edge with Grand Rounds Health, Doctor On Demand, and other employers in developing a resource to help improve access to quality healthcare for the Black and African American community," Lisa Woods, Walmart's vice president of physical and emotional well-being, said. "Together, through collaboration and innovation, we will make it easier to find good doctors and make quality healthcare attainable for underserved populations."
4. The coalition is building the health platform, which it expects to launch in early 2022, after performing market research studies, employee-led focus groups, population health analyses and product design workshops.
5. The program's focus will expand the employers' understanding of local access and care challenges for national employers; care areas the coalition already is exploring include maternal fetal health, cardiometabolic disease, primary care access and behavioral health.
6. Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds merged in May to form a company offering virtual primary care, specialty care and chronic condition management services.