VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 31, 2022 /CNW/ - CareSpan Health,
Inc. (TSXV: CSPN) ("Company" or "CareSpan"), the
provider of the "Clinic-in-the-Cloud" platform addressing the
primary care shortage in the U.S., and improving the delivery of
chronic, urgent and mental health care, is pleased to announce the
expansion of its U.S. military medical assessment contract and
provide a business update.
Expansion of U.S. Military Medical Assessments
Contract
CareSpan is pleased to announce that American Advanced Practice
Network ("American-APN"), a CareSpan professional
corporation, has been awarded an additional contract to conduct
annual medical examinations for U.S. military reservists in
multiple states and locations across the
United States (the "Contract"). American-APN, and its
sister network, American MedPsych Network (AMPN), have over 80
practitioners using the CareSpan "Clinic-in-the-Cloud"™ solution to
deliver primary, chronic, urgent and mental health care to
underserved areas in the United
States.
CareSpan expects to start conducting medical exams pursuant to
the Contract in the coming months. American-APN Nurse Practitioners
("NPs") will deliver high-quality, and efficient
examinations as they help address the large volume of annual
medical exams for the U.S. military. In 2020, the Company
believes approximately 110,000 such medical exams for reservists
were conducted in the U.S. Given the current reach of its
American-APN network, the Company expects to be able to service
approximately 3,000 medical exams per year with an average billing
of US$100 per exam. The Company
believes that as additional NPs join its network and expand its
reach, it will be in a position to service a greater share of the
annual total volume. The Contract is in addition to the veterans
disability assessment contract announced pursuant to the Company's
press release dated December 7, 2021.
Melissa Magstadt, CEO of
American-APN commented: "This new Contract to conduct annual
medical exams for U.S. military reservists expands the scope of
CareSpan's and American-APN's support for the care of U.S. military
personnel and provides another example of how CareSpan enables NPs
to address care delivery gaps across the
United States. With more than 80 practitioners in our
network, and growing, we are focused on continuing to deliver
contracts like this to our NPs to allow them to grow their
practices and, in turn, help CareSpan and American-APN grow and
attract more NPs to join the network."
Business Update
CareSpan is pleased to provide an update on its' key performance
metrics for year-end 2021. The Company experienced strong
operational growth from 2020 to 2021 that was primarily driven
by:
- An increase in the number of NPs and clinicians joining its
network. The number of NPs using CareSpan's "Clinic-in-the-Cloud"
platform grew to 81 providers as of December
31, 2021 compared to 50 providers as at December 31, 2020 (increase of 62%), and compared
to 60 providers as at September 30,
2021 (increase of 35%).
- A stronger patient visit tally across its provider network
during the year. Patient visits were 40,600 in 2021 compared to
24,600 in 2020 – an increase of 65%.
- The completion of the Company's cost restructuring initiatives
that were previously announced by press release dated November 29, 2021. CareSpan expects to realize
annualized savings of approximately US$1.0
million.
- Entered the Florida market
with the hiring of a key seasoned advisor to drive the growth and
reach of the Company's provider network and the signing of the
Company's first NPs in Florida to
join the network. According to Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), with
approximately 30,000 practicing NPs, Florida has more NPs than any other state in
the U.S. In March 2020, Florida passed legislation allowing NPs to
practice independently with the law coming into effect as of
July 2020. According to AANP, there
are an additional 25 states that allow NPs to practice
independently with California set
to join this group in 2023.
- Built the operational infrastructure and tested its Remote
Patient Monitoring ("RPM") service. CareSpan is in the
process of initiating the enrollment and expects to onboard initial
patients in the coming weeks. According to CB Insights: "Tech
Trends to Watch in 2022", the Covid-19 pandemic has expedited
the growth and need of this market to $30B in the United
States as hospitals and lockdowns have created an immediate
demand for chronic and preventative care.
With the infrastructure now in place, CareSpan is excited to
focus on building out its RPM capabilities across its provider
network. RPM is the use of digital devices that allow clinicians
and care providers to capture health and medical data on a
continuous basis from their patients remotely and electronically
through CareSpan's platform. Effective use of RPM, as part of a
patient's care plan, allows CareSpan's NPs and clinicians to
provide higher quality of care to their patients and improve health
outcomes, while generating additional revenue for their practice.
RPM reimbursement is about US$115 per
patient per month, with gross margins of about 60%. RPM deployment
within individual care plans will be a focus for the Company going
forward and CareSpan will focus on building out this revenue
channel over the upcoming quarters.
To help accelerate the growth of its NP network, CareSpan is
pleased to announce the engagement of Bob
Whitfield to support the development of the Company's
provider network and practitioner recruitment, particularly in the
state of Florida. Given its size and demographic profile,
Florida is a strategically
important geographical market for CareSpan. Based in Tampa, Florida, Mr. Whitfield brings relevant
experience in healthcare operations management, compliance,
contract development and management. Mr. Whitfield has already
demonstrated his capabilities with the signing of an initial set of
Florida based NPs with a strong
candidate pipeline. The Company is excited to have him on the team
to help drive further growth.
CEO Rembert De Villa commented:
"In 2020 and 2021, we focused on laying the foundation and
validating our business model. We are now witnessing growth
in our performance metrics from these efforts. In 2022, our focus
is to aggressively grow our provider network and scale our business
with high-quality revenue, continued innovation of our digital
platform, and constant improvement in client satisfaction. With
additions like Bob Whitfield, and a
team of experienced network developers, we will be able to grow our
network of NPs that will continue to expand our scope and reach
into servicing contracts like that of the U.S. military reservists
and enabling them to implement patient care plans that can benefit
from the Company's remote patient monitoring services. These
patient care initiatives serve as another pillar for growth and
demonstrate CareSpan's ability to draw the attention of private and
public payors and health plans requiring high-quality, affordable,
and accessible healthcare services for their members."
About CareSpan Health
CareSpan is a healthcare technology company that has developed
and deployed a unique, proprietary integrated digital care
platform, the CareSpan Clinic-in-the Cloud™, that creates
unfettered access to care for the underserved. With a
patient-centric approach focused on improving health outcomes,
CareSpan uses sophisticated digital tools and capabilities to
improve patient outcomes in primary care, chronic care, urgent
care, and mental health.
In addition to the integrated digital care platform, CareSpan
has built and deployed a business support infrastructure for its
professional network partners, American-Advanced Practice Network
and American-MedPsych Network. American-Advanced Practice Network
harnesses the clinical capabilities of Nurse Practitioners to
address the shortage in primary and chronic care in the
country. American-MedPsych brings together providers to
tackle shortages in mental health, as well as primary care.
Clinic-in-the-Cloud is a trademark of CareSpan USA Inc., a subsidiary of CareSpan Health,
Inc.
For more information, visit: www.carespanhealth.com
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
This news contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (collectively,
"forward-looking statements") which reflect the current
expectations of management of the company's future growth, results
of operations, performance, and business prospects and
opportunities, including the statements made above with respect to:
(i) CareSpan to start conducting medical exams pursuant to the
Contract and delivering high quality examinations; (ii) CareSpan
obtaining future opportunities of the same nature as the Contract;
(ii) the expectation to conduct 3,000 annual exams at US$100 per exam pursuant to the Contract, and the
expectation of this figure to increase as additional NPs join the
network; (iii) the number of NPs obtaining the credentials and
training necessary to support the engagement described herein; (iv)
the Company's outlook for 2022, including growing its network,
generating high-quality revenue, and innovations in its platform;
(v) the anticipated growth of practices and obtaining new payor
contracts; (vi) Bob Whitfield's
appointment driving future growth of the Company; (vii) the growth
of the Company's RPM service and its ability to generate higher
quality care and revenues for the Company; and (viii) the
anticipate filing of the financial statements and MD&A of the
Company by April 29, 2022.
Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always,
identified by words such as "may", "would", "could", "will",
"should", "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate",
"predict", "potential for", "intend" and similar expressions or the
negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although
these words may not be present in all forward-looking
statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on management's
assumptions as at the date of the forward-looking statements are
provided, including but not limited to the following: the ability
of the Company to execute its growth plans and business strategies;
the ability of the Company to secure new contracts and assignments;
the growth of the NPs within CareSpan's network; and the ability of
the Company to generate meaningful revenue from such assignments
and future engagements. Though management believes that its
assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause the Company's actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from all or any of the future
results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
forward-looking statements. Risk factors that could cause the
Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ
from the forward-looking statements in this news release include,
but may not be limited to: general market and economic risk; any
necessary regulatory approvals required (if applicable) for the
Company to deliver the services under the Contract; the ability of
the Company's management to execute its strategy; unexpected or
adverse regulatory changes in the healthcare space; and the ability
of all parties to the Contract to fulfill their obligations under
the Contract. These factors should be considered carefully, and
prospective investors should not place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements
contained in the news release are based upon what management
currently believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot
assure prospective investors that actual results, performance or
achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. Except as required by law, the Company expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or
the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.
The TSX-V and its Regulation Services Provider have not
approved the contents of, nor taken responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of, this press release.
SOURCE CareSpan Health, Inc.