At Waymark, our mission is to create more accessible and equitable pathways to better health for people receiving Medicaid. This week, we’re shining a spotlight on the incredible Care Delivery team members who make that mission a reality every day. From our dedicated CHWs and pharmacists to our pharmacy technicians and therapists, these unsung heroes go above and beyond to ensure our patients receive the compassionate, high-quality care they deserve. Their unwavering commitment to improving lives is the heart of Waymark and we couldn’t be prouder of the work they do. This week is all about saying "thank you" and recognizing our Care Team's impact on the lives of so many in the communities we serve. Join us in honoring these exceptional individuals who make a difference every day. To our Care Team—thank you for all that you do! 🙏 💜 #CareAppreciationWeek #Waymark #HealthcareHeroes #Medicaid #CompassionateCare
Waymark
Hospitals and Health Care
San Francisco, California 5,133 followers
Care, guided by community.
About us
Waymark is a public benefit company dedicated to improving access and quality of care for people receiving Medicaid. We partner with health plans and primary care providers to create more equitable and accessible pathways to better health. Our local teams of community health workers, pharmacists, therapists and care coordinators use proprietary data science technologies to deliver evidence-based interventions to hard-to-reach patient populations. We are hiring. We are partnering. We are building with our communities. Join us.
- Website
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http://www.waymarkcare.com
External link for Waymark
- Industry
- Hospitals and Health Care
- Company size
- 51-200 employees
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, California
- Type
- Privately Held
- Founded
- 2021
Locations
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Primary
San Francisco, California 94115, US
Employees at Waymark
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Tommy Ward
Risk Management, InfoSec Executive
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Lea Tompsett
Strategy, BD, Customer Success // Whole Person & Value Based Care
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Afia Asamoah
Co-Founder; Healthcare Technology Leader; Board Director
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Leshika Samarasinghe
Founder & General Partner at Twine Ventures (formerly Google, ARPA-E)
Updates
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“The issues we’re highlighting are related to perpetuating problematic assumptions about the way we quantify health and cost as a healthcare system. While we have technical fixes to improve cost-effectiveness analyses, that’s just one part of a broader effort needed to ensure our analytics tools promote equity rather than hinder it.” Waymark co-founder Sanjay Basu sat down with Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss our recent study outlining how cost-effectiveness analysis may be perpetuating health disparities that disproportionately harm marginalized communities. Listen to the episode here 👉 https://wymrk.co/3YQCPNB
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In a new piece for STAT, Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD and Co-Founder and Head of Clinical at Waymark, summarizes a new peer-reviewed article just published in Health Affairs on how cost-effective analyses may be perpetuating health disparities—and what we can do about this. “This won't be an easy task. It requires rethinking long-standing economic assumptions, challenging highly entrenched and powerful academics who have made their careers publishing studies using existing methods, and asking honest questions about the ethical implications of studies and methods that often don't include those who are most affected by them. But it's a necessary step if we're serious about creating a more equitable health care system.” Read the article 👉 https://lnkd.in/e68KZcpM
Cost-effectiveness of health interventions may be perpetuating health disparities. Here's how to fix that
https://www.statnews.com
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In a new peer-reviewed study just published in Health Affairs, Waymark co-founder and Head of Clinical Sanjay Basu and co-authors at the University of Pennsylvania and University of California, San Francisco explore how cost-effective analyses—one of the most commonly used tools to evaluate health interventions—may risk perpetuating health disparities. The study finds that standard approaches to cost-effective analyses tend to undervalue interventions that would primarily benefit disadvantaged groups due to: ⚫ Marginalized groups facing a higher risk of dying from multiple potential causes that diminish the benefits of treating diseases (known as “competing risks”) ⚫ Underinsurance or lack of insurance that result in lower baseline healthcare costs ⚫ Pre-existing wage disparities that may appear to show lower lost work productivity compared to more privileged groups The authors outline several approaches to ensure our analytical methods serve all members of society, especially the chronically underserved. This is critical work that deserves the attention of not just academics and researchers, but also policymakers, payers, and providers who care about improving health equity. Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/eA9zfGge
The Risk Of Perpetuating Health Disparities Through Cost-Effectiveness Analyses | Health Affairs Journal
healthaffairs.org
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At the Florida Community Health Worker Coalition annual summit, Waymark’s Kiiera Robinson, Ed.D, MPH, MA, Jessica Moore and Hannah Douthat gave a presentation on Waymark’s CHW-led model. They also learned from peers and industry leaders about the importance of community-based care for patients receiving Medicaid in Florida. Read their top takeaways below ⏬ https://lnkd.in/eJmpAayr
Recap: 2024 Florida Community Health Worker (CHW) Summit | Waymark
waymarkcare.com
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Today marks the 59th anniversary of Medicaid. Over nearly six decades, the program has evolved into one of the largest safety-net programs in the U.S.—providing access to essential health and social care for millions of Americans. We celebrate the impact Medicaid has made for communities across the country, and we’re grateful to both our care teams and our partners—health plans, primary care providers, and community organizations—for the work they do every day to create more equitable and accessible pathways to health.
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Waymark reposted this
In their new Forefront article, Rajaie Batniji, Sanjay Basu, and Sadiq Y. Patel from Waymark argue that persistent data quality issues and insufficient integration of clinical and social risk factor data have contributed to the growth of value veneers by limiting the ability of Medicaid programs to proactively identify and deliver targeted interventions to at-risk patients. "In recent years, there has been a growing focus on shifting to value-based care (VBC) models in Medicaid, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs), which aim to incentivize providers to deliver higher-quality, more cost-effective care. However, as we’ve previously written about, many of these models nominally pass as VBC (through modest shared savings arrangements or performance bonuses) but do not meaningfully change care delivery to improve access, quality of care, or outcomes for patients. We call these payment structures “value veneers.”" Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/4fm2svv
From Veneers To Value: Data Science Can Enable High-Value Care In Medicaid | Health Affairs Forefront
healthaffairs.org
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Despite being a cornerstone of high-value care, risk prediction models in Medicaid are often hindered by poor data quality and racial/ethnic biases—limiting their ability to proactively identify and offered targeted interventions for at-risk patients. In a new article published in Health Affairs, we argue that these challenges have contributed to the growth of “value veneers” and demonstrate how new risk prediction models like Waymark Signal can enable high-value care in Medicaid. “While Medicare and commercial insurance programs have benefitted from numerous risk modeling advances, Medicaid programs have seen far fewer peer-reviewed studies achieving significant performance gains. Recent advances in data science offer the potential to help us deliver more equitable and effective care through personalized, proactive outreach that improves outcomes for the chronically underserved in Medicaid.” Read here: https://wymrk.co/4c2WoFl H/T Rajaie Batniji Sanjay Basu Sadiq Y. P. #Medicaid #DataScience #HighValueCare #ValueBasedCare #HealthEquity
From Veneers To Value: Data Science Can Enable High-Value Care In Medicaid | Health Affairs Forefront
healthaffairs.org
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BIPOC Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity for healthcare professionals to evaluate how they connect patients of color with resources to better manage their mental health. We spoke with our multidisciplinary care team—including pharmacists, therapists, community health workers, and care coordinators—to learn more about the specific mental health challenges many in the BIPOC community face and how to address them. Read their thoughts here: https://lnkd.in/eum-5Ake
“Taboo Topics:” Countering Mental Health Stigma in BIPOC Communities | Waymark
waymarkcare.com
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Honored to have our research on sustainable financing for CHW programs highlighted in Rural Health Information Hub!
With recent research supporting the effectiveness of community health workers as professionals effectively assisting patients with navigating health-related social determinants, federal and private payers are exploring reimbursement mechanisms. Four rural healthcare organizations share both the impact and the continued sustainability challenges – and successes – of their CHW programs. Learn more in the Rural Monitor:
Rural Community Health Worker Programs: Proving Value and Finding Sustainability - The Rural Monitor
ruralhealthinfo.org