The company will partner with a number of local provider groups and health networks to provide mental health and substance abuse services where geography and lack of psychiatrists and psychologists complicate access.  The HealthLinkNow Patient Centered Medical Home Program will offer secure videoconferencing linking patients and HealthLinkNow psychiatrists/therapists; instant messaging, email, telephone calls and health education.  The fully-integrated HealthLinkNow Telemedicine and IT platform also allows billing, ePrescribing, and practice management.

Lower costs through reduced hospital admissions and emergency room visits are anticipated, resulting from improved access to psychiatric consultations, therapy, and long-term mental health case management.  Over the three year period of the grant, HealthLinkNow will hire 24 health care providers, including both psychiatrists and therapists, with estimated savings of $8.1m to CMS through the use of this highly innovative approach to mental health care.

The CMS Innovation Center announced the second batch of preliminary awardees for the Health Care Innovation Awards on June 15, 2012.  HealthLinkNow is among several organizations tabbed to implement projects in communities across the nation.  The aim is to deliver better health, improved care and lower costs to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, particularly those with the highest health care needs.

Barb Johnston, HealthLinkNow CEO and co-founder is delighted that the company has received this award.  “We are honored to have won this award and to be able to provide much needed mental health services to patients in Montana and Wyoming who would otherwise not have access to such care”, shared Johnston.  “First and foremost we are about connecting people to the right care, when and where they need it.  The HealthLinkNow online clinic and the care we bring through telemedicine to hospitals, health systems and organizations, as well as to people in their homes, are ideally suited for patients like these who live in geographically inaccessible areas.”

“The project described was supported by Funding Opportunity Number CMS-1C1-12-0001 from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.”

“This press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.”

In addition to the convenience of seeing a HealthLinkNow specialist wherever you are, people value complete privacy simply for personal or professional reasons or for more practical considerations such as the complications that can arise from their insurance company knowing about their psychiatric symptoms or treatment. “This is the way of the future and people appreciate receiving mental health care in this secure, convenient and completely private way,” continued Johnston.

“Our mission is to provide access to care and services that would otherwise not be available to people in the margins of society”, explains Kurt Chismark, Executive Director of Catholic Social Service Sacramento. “The medical expertise available through HealthLinkNow allows us to serve a broader range of patient needs and situations.”

Barb Johnston, HealthLinkNow CEO and co-founder shares the enthusiasm of Catholic Social Service. “We are very pleased to be working with Catholic Social Service. First and foremost we are about connecting people to the right care, when and where they need it. The HLN online clinic and the care we bring through Telemedicine to hospitals, health systems and organizations, and to people in their homes is ideally suited for the needs of Catholic Social Service.”

Since 1930, Catholic Social Service of Sacramento has responded to the needs of the most vulnerable of the community. Today, through the New Pathways Counseling Program, the organization provides area residents with professional mental health services including individual and family counseling as well as parenting education. The program helps people, especially families, to overcome financial barriers that keep them from access to mental health services.

HealthLinkNow is an online health services clinic featuring health providers who use Telemedicine to care for patients with quality and ease, and who can link to patients in clinics, hospitals and direct to their homes. By integrating Telemedicine, scheduling, practice management and electronic health records, HLN delivers greater access and convenience to patients and significant cost savings. Based in Sacramento, company founders are internationally recognized for their contributions to the advancement of Telemedicine and Telepsychiatry.