A $6 million grant from the NY Department of Health made it possible to build a comprehensive after-hours telehealth enabled urgent care program for 2076 individuals with neurodevelopmental and intellectual disabilities. Its outcomes were favorable - 98% patient satisfaction rating, more activated patients, an 86% Emergency Department aversion rate, cost savings for the agencies, and millions of Medicaid dollars saved. Remote monitoring equipment was provided to those with hypertension and diabetes.

When the program ended after 3 years, the program enrollees and their caregivers clamored for it to continue. But at that time - 2017 - Federal, state and commercial reimbursement for telehealth was woefully inadequate to sustain a program. Determined to find a way to continue to serve this vulnerable population, the program’s lead provider and the firm who designed and operated the grant teamed up to find a way to fund and build a virtual clinic for the most vulnerable populations.

Today, the results of the initial grant have been parlayed into new programs and projects for a Federally Qualified Health Clinic on Long Island, a diagnostic and treatment clinic in the Bronx, and a Certified Home Health Agency and Skilled Nursing Facility in Nassau County. These projects are partially funded through over $2M in new grants -- along with institutional investment, and governmental and commercial reimbursement. These new virtual clinics go beyond urgent care to preventative care, chronic care, home care and post acute care. They serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at-risk Medicaid populations, and medically complex children. They provide primary, specialty care along with behavioral care and telepsychiatry.