Learn why Welld Health is the community health professional’s one-stop shop from referral to reimbursement for small and large organizations alike.
In the fall of 2018, Cassandra Stish, the chief customer officer for Welld Health, attended the “Bridging Community and Healthcare: Community Integrated Health Conference” organized by the YMCA of the USA. Listening to the speakers, participating in the workshops and taking part in one-on-one conversations with leaders from across the nation, she saw both the need and the potential for the right technology to help bring all the disparate pieces of healthcare together.
“There were several overarching issues at stake from bi-directional referrals to reporting outcomes to state and federal agencies, social determinants of health, and the persistent problem of negotiating and obtaining reimbursement contracts,” said Stish. “I left there with a head full of ideas and a better understanding of the culture we serve.”
Stish still refers to her notes from that conference when thinking about a new feature or integration for Welld Health.
What is Welld Health?
Welld is a specialty Electronic Health Record (EHR) that has grown to be a robust technology platform. It can power statewide engagements with YMCA Alliances and is flexible enough to meaningfully serve the single location organization, too. While Welld started out small, the company is founded by an industry champion, Chris Craytor, who believes in the power of fitness programs fueled by physician involvement.
Craytor, the CEO of Welld Health, began his journey in the industry 17 years ago when he first joined ACAC, a health club chain that pioneered physician referred exercise programs. The desire to prove outcomes and securely store health information led to the launch of an internal software development project, which over a few years became what is now known as Welld Health.
“The decision to truly move Welld from being an internal project to stand-alone business came about in 2017, when we completed a pilot study with Johns Hopkins Cardiology designed to measure the impact of interventions, including exercise, on metabolic syndrome patients,” said Craytor. “This project pushed the Welld platform to new levels of sophistication that kickstarted our transition from a tool delivering simple fitness programs to a prevention-focused EHR. We saw the potential impact of Welld in the delivery of Evidence Based Health Interventions (EBHI) and made the leap.”
And leap they did. Through partnerships with state departments of health and YMCA Alliances, Welld has been helping empower the vision of clinic to community linkages.
Through years of customer-focused growth and platform development, Welld is uniquely positioned to advise on the best way to implement infrastructure that brings everyone together — partners, referring providers, health plans, employers and participants. Welld’s community-focused EHR delivers a seamless experience that continues to evolve with customers.
“Often, our clients have a vision of what they want to do and how they want to grow in the health and wellness space, but they lack the infrastructure to bring that vision to life,” said Craytor. “That’s what we bring to the table — infrastructure and ideas. Our team shows up with the mindset to provide modern solutions and tools, designed and built by a nimble and innovative team who are just as dedicated.”
What Makes Welld Different?
As an EHR built specially for community organizations like wellness centers, extension agencies and small clinics, Welld trims away the extra noise of traditional software solutions. The platform is focused on the staff who run the programs, the data they collect and the people they serve. Stish shared what sets Welld apart from the rest:
- Welld offers robust referral, program and claims engines that connect like hubs to form the infrastructure that helps bring prevention and lifestyle programming to scale.
- Welld is highly configurable. Whether a custom program design or a custom reimbursement fee schedule, Welld’s team can accommodate.
- Welld can ingest referrals directly from health system electronic medical records in a variety of traditional methods like fax or direct inbox. “In 2020, we focused on interoperability by building out Fast-Healthcare Interoperability Resources referrals and bi-directional program progress reporting,” said Stish.
- Welld is a comprehensive solution that strikes the right balance between supplying guardrails for program integrity and being non-prescriptive so each organization can operationalize as they see fit.
What Can Welld Do for You?
The past year has been a struggle for many community-based organizations like Ys and JCCs. As the ideas of how to emerge from the pandemic continue to be tested through each new wave of the virus, there’s been increased interest in reimbursable programming.
Healthcare is an essential service, and the more the industry can demonstrably prove healthcare is, in fact, being provided by Ys, JCCs or even at the local church, the better chance at remaining open. Welld’s flexibility helps to operationalize new programs or wellness challenges as organizations try different approaches.
“Community recreation professionals who are focused on traditional EBHIs and health education that target nutrition counseling and chronic disease need a reliable and integrated health record,” said Stish. “Welld keeps health data safe, helps to ensure program integrity and seamlessly connects to reimbursement resources. Welld is the community health professional’s one-stop shop from referral to reimbursement for small and large organizations alike.”
Photo by Sarah Cramer-Shields
