Aetna Better Health of Kentucky, Avēsis and MapHabit are joining forces for a new pilot program that supports patients with disabilities, the companies announced Tuesday.
Aetna Better Health of Kentucky provides Medicaid coverage in Kentucky, while Phoenix, Arizona-based Avēsis administers vision and dental care benefits for people throughout the U.S. Aetna Better Health of Kentucky subcontracts with Avēsis to deliver oral and eye care for them. MapHabit, based in Atlanta, offers technology that organizes routines and habits into visual maps to help people complete daily tasks on their own or with help from a caregiver.
The new one-year pilot program will support 200 Kentucky children with autism or intellectual disabilities and who are part of the foster care system. Avēsis will provide these patients with tablets that offer access to MapHabit’s platform. On that platform, patients will get access to visual maps to help them with daily routines, such as oral hygiene or other activities of daily living like getting dressed or making food.
“MapHabit provides the technology stack that enables members to live a more independent life and do things like complete activities of daily living more on their own as opposed to needing as much support as they would have historically. … By introducing the MapHabit solution, we’re able to help them create a daily oral hygiene routine that will alleviate some of the need for them to receive some of that care in a dental office,” said Don Trainor, care transformation senior manager at Avēsis, in an interview.
In addition, the MapHabit solution allows for ongoing communication between the case management team at Aetna Better Health of Kentucky, the case management team at Avēsis, patients’ medical providers and patients’ dental providers. These players can also communicate with the members.
Patients can also be directed to providers who have been trained to treat patients with intellectual disabilities. In addition, with the MapHabit solution, patients can see videos of the providers’ offices before an appointment so they can get more accustomed to the office and the staff.
“We can take a video of the dental office and say, ‘Here’s the front waiting room, here’s the front office staff. They’re smiling and waving. Here’s where the dental chair is, here’s what the chair looks like, here’s what the tools look like. Here’s the dentist, they’re going to introduce themselves.’ Just like you would use a daily oral hygiene routine map, you now have that video to revisit as many times as necessary in order to be comfortable when the time of the visit comes,” Trainor said.
This is particularly important for patients with intellectual disabilities because many may be hypersensitive to touch or sounds. Introducing them to the office beforehand may better prepare them for appointments, leading to a lower need for sedation and reducing the cost of care, according to Brian Jones, chief growth officer at Avēsis.
The companies hope to expand the program in the future and will be sharing results from the pilot.
Photo: Gerasimov174, Getty Images
