Economic and Operational Evaluation of HelixVM’s Market-Place Platform on Partner Businesses
Study in collaboration between HelixVM and Healthcare Innovation and Technology Lab (HITLAB)
Report authors: Ekta Jain, Vandana Yadav, Stan Kachnowski
Summary
Introduction. HelixVM™ is an online healthcare marketplace that connects patients with providers virtually. The platform simplifies access to medical consultations, prescriptions, and lab orders without requiring in-person visits. In addition to providers, HelixVM also partners with other businesses that function as referral sources for HelixVM. These referral sources offer HelixVM to their employees or patients who need a provider’s consultation for claims or a pre-procedure order. Previous studies conducted by HITLAB assessed the usability and effectiveness of the HelixVM marketplace platform. Patients and providers rated the platform highly and the providers reported higher productivity and saving provider time. HelixVM was interested to evaluate the economic and operational impact of the HelixVM marketplace platform on the businesses of its referral partners and obtain insights for further improvement.
Methods. HITLAB conducted one-on-one in-depth structured interviews with HelixVM referral partners that lasted around 60 to 90 minutes. The interview questions measured key metrics on HelixVM’s impact on business partner’s revenue, customer acquisition and retention. Data was also collected on the effort-benefit ratio, value that HelixVM brings to the business partner and overall satisfaction of the business partner and their customers. All data was analysed using thematic deductive analysis (qualitative responses) and descriptive statistics (quantitative or categorical responses).
Results. The study found that the overall satisfaction of business partners and customers of HelixVM reflected positively of HelixVM’s value to the referral partners and their customers. Revenue attributable to HelixVM ranged between USD 300 to USD 10,000 subject to the nature of referral partner’s area. Between 50% and 100% of customers showed willingness to use HelixVM services once introduced, and the conversion proportion was 81.25%. HelixVM offered operational advantages, such as cost savings for employees and enhanced patient satisfaction. While HelixVM’s contribution to the direct success of referral partners’ businesses was minimal it however, offered operational advantages such as cost savings and enhanced patient satisfaction. Patients appreciated the convenience, efficiency, and extended hours availability the platform provided. Certain challenges identified include insurance incompatibility and frustrations owing to different mode of communications to set up the virtual consultations.
Discussion. HelixVM is highly valued for its ability to streamline healthcare processes and save time for both patients and partners. Business partners shared some improvement areas such as further simplification of the process involved to set up a customer’s virtual console, ability to provide more clarity on the billing structure, timeliness in discharge paperwork and better system integration. Certain barriers like limited insurance coverage, patient reliance on familiar providers, and system integration issues restrict its broader adoption. Improving system integration of the HelixVM referral process and increasing awareness of the HelixVM market-place among the patient population can help HelixVM expand its role as a reliable, efficient, and accessible healthcare platform.
Key Findings
- Streamlined Documentation: HelixVM seamlessly provides required patient notes to meet even the strictest insurance guidelines.
- High Patient Willingness: 100% of patients at one referral partner express interest in HelixVM after a brief explanation.
- Exceptional Conversion Rates: At three referral partners, nearly all interested patients proceed to use HelixVM services.
- Significant Revenue Impact: One partner attribute 75% of their revenue to HelixVM.
- Revenue Generation: Referral partners earn between $300 and $10,000 per patient using HelixVM.
- Rapid Referrals: HelixVM completes referral processes in as little as 30 minutes.
- Favorable Effort-Benefit Ratio: 75% of referral partners agree the benefits significantly outweigh the effort.
- Cost Savings: One partner highlight reduced employer costs due to HelixVM’s efficient medical consultations.
Introduction
HelixVM is a virtual healthcare marketplace that offers convenient access to medical care and testing for patients, regardless of their insurance status. Launched in 2020, the platform allows patients to receive prescriptions, lab tests, and consultations through both asynchronous services (FastTrack Rx™) and synchronous telehealth in minutes. By simplifying routine care, HelixVM enables physicians to focus on more complex cases, enhancing both efficiency and patient outcomes. This efficiency frees up physician time to focus on more complex and critical cases, improving patient outcomes. HelixVM’s marketplace is built with the idea to address the largest healthcare issue – increasing healthcare capacity without increasing the number of healthcare providers.
Recent studies by HITLAB demonstrated that HelixVM helps doctors manage a higher volume of patients while providing faster access to care. These studies report high positive user experience among both patients and providers on aspects that included time saving, convenience, healthcare access, patient outcomes to name a few. Providers reported increased productivity, greater satisfaction with flexible work arrangements, and competitive compensation. To further expand its user base and adoption, HelixVM partnered with referral organizations such as employers and specialized healthcare systems, which refer their employees or patients to HelixVM for virtual or in-person consultations.
To evaluate the platform’s economic and operational impact, HITLAB conducted a qualitative research study using one-on-one structured interviews with HelixVM’s referral partners. The study aimed to asses the effort-to-benefit impact, examining whether the value provided by the platform justifies the effort required for referral and onboarding. The research also explored the benefits experienced by both partners and patients, while understanding the challenges faced. For this purpose, HITLAB defined specific economic metrics tied to the HelixVM platform, including cost savings, revenue growth, operational efficiency, return on investment, and patient throughput. This study aims to provide robust evidence of the economic and operational advantages of the HelixVM platform. The findings will be discussed considering practical recommendations while offering valuable insights for businesses considering or already using HelixVM’s services. The findings from this evaluation are intended to inform strategies for enhancing the platform’s overall value for both users and partners
HelixVM Market-place Platform
HelixVM’s medical marketplace platform offers leverage in integration of other systems for making a booking, accessing medical records (by the provider). Patients can receive a prescription in minutes with or without a virtual provider visit. Following all HIPAA requirements, prescriptions can be delivered to patients preferred online or local pharmacy in minutes.
The marketplace platform comprises of three main utilities needs of patients and healthcare providers:
1. Patient Access and Booking Platform
HelixVM provides patients with a multi-channel booking platform to book appointments or access healthcare services, regardless of their location. They can schedule consultations online from home,
book appointments at participating pharmacies, or directly within their doctor’s office. This platform integrates with existing systems, such as ZocDoc for appointment scheduling and EMRs like ECW/Healow, allowing for seamless patient registration and appointment management. Additionally, HelixVM offers quick access through QR codes displayed in physical locations, such as pharmacies and medical offices.
2. AI-Powered Provider Tools for Triage and Treatment
For healthcare providers, HelixVM offers an AI-powered triage system that helps qualify patients’ medical conditions before consultations. This feature streamlines the process by matching the patient’s needs to appropriate treatment plans, saving valuable time for providers. On average, registered providers save 10 minutes per patient. The platform also includes pre-screened treatment templates that eliminate the need for an in-person consultation in some cases. For example, HelixVM can deliver prescriptions for medications like Paxlovid and Tamiflu in under an hour to a pharmacy. This asynchronous model, combined with defined clinical protocols, helps fast-track medicine delivery while ensuring compliance with necessary clinical data, generating billable income for physicians.
3. Discharge and Billing Management
HelixVM’s marketplace includes a flexible billing and insurance management system. Providers can choose to use HelixVM’s billing facility or continue with their own system for handling commercial payer claims. If they opt for HelixVM’s billing system, the platform compensates providers for their encounters and uses its contracts with insurance companies to generate income.
This system is designed to simplify the process of managing insurance claims and patient discharges. HelixVM handles the administrative steps, ensuring that the right insurance information and billing codes are applied and that claims are processed efficiently. By centralizing these tasks, the platform reduces the inefficiencies of using multiple systems and helps healthcare providers manage the entire billing and discharge process from a single, streamlined platform.
Methods
Participant Recruitment. Business partners of HelixVM that also function as referral sources for the HelixVM market-place platform were recruited in the study. The sampling frame was provided by HelixVM. HITLAB invited these referral sources of HelixVM to participate in the study clearly explaining the study aims and objectives.
Data collection. Participants who agreed to take part in the study attended one-on-one in-depth virtual interviews that lasted 60 to 90 minutes. During the sessions, HITLAB researchers used a detailed questionnaire consisting of 22 core questions on key metrics defined by HITLAB to capture the required data. The questionnaire was designed to capture key economic metrics identified by HITLAB. The following themes and metrics were addressed in the questionnaire.
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Sl. No.
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Theme
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Metrics captured
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1
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Customer (patient) service
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Customer needs for prescriptions or virtual visits, interest in HelixVM, and conversion rates.
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2
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Revenue
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Per-customer revenue, percentage of revenue attributable to HelixVM.
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3
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Insurance
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Patients without insurance, ability to pay out-of-pocket.
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4
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Operational Processes
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Processes undertaken, staff training, time spent explaining and completing tasks.
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5
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Effort versus Benefit
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Whether the effort outweighs the value, perceived benefits to customers.
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6
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Value and Efficiency
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Customer acquisition and retention, HelixVM’s impact on supply chains, overall satisfaction, and economic value.
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All interviews were conducted in a one-on-one format by HITLAB researchers. The collected data was stored securely on HITLAB’s cloud platform and was accessible only to researchers directly involved in the study. To ensure confidentiality, all data was de-identified prior to analysis, and no identifying information was included in the analysis.
Data Analysis. The interview data was analyzed using descriptive and thematic analysis. For all such questions where the nature of the response or the question was quantitative in nature, we calculated proportions, ranges and averages or medians. For all such questions where the responses were qualitative, we used thematic analysis wherein the data was systematically coded into predefined themes and categories, allowing researchers to identify recurring patterns and key phrases. A comparative analysis of participant responses was conducted to highlight trends and variations, providing a detailed understanding of HelixVM’s impact on referral partners. We summarized key messages and identified emerging themes in a thematic analysis. We also used narrative analysis to share key messages from the participants as quoted by them directly. This methodological approach facilitated the identification of critical areas for improvement and opportunities to enhance the platform’s value for both users and partners.
Results. The study included four professionals from HelixVM partner organizations, with 1.5 to 3 years of experience using the platform. Participants came from the prosthetics (n=1), hospitality (n=1), and insurance management sectors (n=2), with responsibilities centered on overseeing operations and managing healthcare related processes within their organizations. Their feedback offered valuable insights into the practical applications of HelixVM, highlighting its role in enhancing both healthcare delivery and operational efficiency across these diverse industries.
Organization and participant profile
Participant 1: Administrative Supervisor
Sector: Prosthetics/Medical Devices
Responsibility: Oversees the prosthetic department.
Participant 2: Risk and Compliance Manager
Sector: Hospitality
Responsibility: Manages workers’ compensation claims, insurance renewals, guest property, medical claims.
Participant 3: Telephonic Case Manager
Sector: Insurance Management
Responsibility: Insurance management for specific self-funded worker’s compensation claims
Participant 4: CEO
Sector: Diagnostics
Responsibility: work with different provider groups and hospitals helping patients achieve at home diagnosis
Functional value for using HelixVM
- Physician notes for claims documentation: Insurance requirements for prosthetic claims documentation are stricter, and primary care doctors often hesitate to provide the necessary notes. HelixVM is helpful as it streamlines the documentation process to meet insurance guidelines.
- Compensation claims: A complex claim task requires efficient management of workers’ compensation claims across multiple departments. HelixVM helps solve the complexity as integrates various departments for streamlined claims processing.
- Self-funded worker’s compensation: Challenge: Managing diverse self-funded workers’ compensation claims for municipalities can be complex and time-consuming. HelixVM provides tools to efficiently manage claims of varying complexity.
- Connecting patients with providers: Patients want a specific diagnostic text but do not have a provider’s written lab order. HelixVM bridges the gap by offering telehealth services for diagnostics and lab orders
Patient Engagement and Adoption Trends
PA median 5 to 8 customers (patients) visit these business partners every month needing a medical prescription and or a virtual medical consultation (includes customers who may visit more than once). Figure 1 displays Percentage of customers that show willingness to use HelixVM services and percentage of those who eventually enroll.
Figure 1: Customers (patients or employees) willingness, enrollment and conversion
The analysis of partner responses shed light on how patients perceive and engage with HelixVM. Patient willingness to enroll ranged from 50% to 75%. It is important to note that HelixVM was offered as an optional service in most cases. Most patients saw HelixVM as a solution for specific transactional needs, such as lab tests, prescriptions, or immediate consultations, and seemingly had not converted to HelixVM as their healthcare provider.
Some specifics are detailed below:
- Age and Demographics. Younger patients were more likely to adopt HelixVM due to their familiarity and comfort with virtual healthcare platforms. In contrast, older patients generally preferred traditional care models, often expressing hesitation to switch from their established providers.
- Follow through with HelixVM. Almost all patients are able to complete the referral process with HelixVM
- Resolution of Complaints. Patients that use HelixVM encounter minimal complaints, and these minimal complaints are addressed very quickly by HelixVM.
- Insurance Incompatibility. Some patients do not have insurance that is compatible with HelixVM and subsequently, they do not proceed with HelixVM. .
Economic and Operational Impact
Participants highlighted operational benefits, including cost savings for employers and increased patient satisfaction. Partners reported that HelixVM’s direct contribution to overall business success was minimal, with contributions of 1-2%, or at most 5%, of their success or profit to the platform. One reason could be that patients who enroll in HelixVM often use it for specific, one-time needs to begin with and seemingly most do not convert to the platform as their main provider.
- Hospitality (worker’s compensation) – $300
- Worker’s Compensation (HelixVM is $250 for initial consultation) – $1,500
- Prosthetics – $2,500 – $10,000
- Diagnostics – N/A
Operational Benefits
HelixVM offers significant operational benefits for employers, particularly in terms of cost savings. By enabling virtual consultations, the platform helps reduce the amount of time employees need to take off from work for in-person doctor visits. This reduction in time off leads to cost savings for the employer. It benefits both employers and employees by minimizing work disruption and enhancing internal work flows. Furthermore, offering access to the platform improves employees’ perception of their employer’s support, fostering a positive workplace culture and promoting overall employee well-being.
Patients consistently report high levels of satisfaction with HelixVM, particularly appreciating its convenience and efficiency. Virtual consultations provide quick access to healthcare services without the need for in-person visits, saving time and reducing travel. This is particularly beneficial for patients in rural areas, where travel to healthcare facilities can be time-consuming and costly. Additionally, patients value the quality of services provided, along with the cleanliness of the facilities associated with HelixVM.
Effort versus Benefit
The partner organizations have trained staff who introduce HelixVM to patients and assist with the enrollment process. Explaining HelixVM to new customers typically takes just 2–15 minutes, and the enrollment process is quick and efficient. To complete the referral process, it takes a median 25 hours (range: 30 minutes to 48 hours). For the majority of business partners, the referral process happens on the phone (n=3) and at business partner it happens at their security desk. At one business partner, there are dedicated staff and their training for the referral process. At most business partners, the process is simple – they always ask the customers (patients) if they have a doctor’s order and when they say “no”, they are referred to HelixVM.
Around 75% participants responded in the affirmative when asked if the effort and time put into explaining HelixVM to customers (employees who are patients) is balanced or outweighed with the benefit from it. Additionally, partners commented on HelixVM’s customer service, noting that the platform’s support team resolve any issues quickly, further easing the process for both patients and staff.
Benefits to Participants and Patients
Patients consistently report high levels of satisfaction with HelixVM, particularly appreciating its convenience and efficiency. Virtual consultations provide quick access to healthcare services without the need for in-person visits, saving time and reducing travel. This is particularly beneficial for patients in rural areas, where travel to healthcare facilities can be time-consuming and costly. Additionally, patients value the quality of services provided, along with the cleanliness of the facilities associated with HelixVM.
- Convenience: Patients appreciate the ability to complete consultations, receive prescriptions, or order lab tests remotely, eliminating the need for in-person visits to clinics or hospitals.
- Quick Service: HelixVM speeds up access to necessary healthcare documentation and treatments.
- Availability: The platform’s extended hours of service are a major benefit for patients, offering access to care even during off-peak times.
- Streamlined Experience: Compared to traditional care options, patients report smoother and faster processes, leading to quicker recoveries and faster claim approvals.
- Improved Work Readiness: Employees benefit from expedited clearances, allowing them to return to work more quickly after receiving care through HelixVM.
Important Quotes from Business Partners
“I think the convenience factor that Helix has of offering virtual consults is helpful because we are able to get our employees back to work quicker if you know they’re cleared. I mean the Virtual Console is what’s helpful in set to be less apart from our prior occupational health company that we partnered with.” – RS1
“It gives them [patients] the convenience of being able to rest and recover at home and still get the follow up they need without having to go back somewhere else and sit in the lobby. It limits their exposure to other germs, and that’s a big one for me. I tell people you hurt yourself. You don’t want to go sit in a lobby with people coughing and that have COVID, and you know you have a sprained ankle. You don’t want to catch COVID, right? And I also think the option for it to be virtual gives us a better follow through where we don’t have to spend as much time chasing people down like got to go back, you got to go back because they don’t have to find a day that’s convenient and drive there and sit in the waiting room. They just schedule the appointment at a time. That’s convenient. They get the call, so you know they might be better and able to get released. You know at that same week versus somebody that’s better but has to go in. That might take a month because you’re trying to get them to go back.” RS2
Challenges
Insurance related
- Insurance companies getting stricter: extremely particular about what they want in the notes and the patients general primary care doctors are not always comfortable with providing that.
- Lack of support on obtaining notes: sometimes a lot of patients go through months and weeks of trying to get these notes and it’s difficult for them.
- Incompatible Insurance: every patient does not have insurance that works with HelixVM
- Customer Unwillingness for Self-Pay: gets expensive for patients without insurance as they pay fee for company and HelixVM
Scheduling
- The process to schedule appointments is frustrating for team members.
- Different modes of communication are involved such as emails, text, QR code scans, phone, app etc. which sometimes makes it frustrating to deal with the process.
- Customers (patients/employees) are already a little on edge and eager to get back to work, and the intertwined processes do not aid ease.
System Integration
- There is less transparency in terms of where the patient is in the journey of getting a referral.
- There is no clarity on intimation on when the appointment is completed or when the requisition will be ready.
- There exists no way of determining when the lab order will be ready or when the appointment is completed.
Recommendations
Single channel of communication
- Keep all communication on a single mode.
Currently, a user utilizes a phone for text and call, and a mobile app.
This involves a lot of back and forth.
All claim related processes can be kept on a single mode.
Automation
Create automated processes for requesting information.
A user should not have to send multiple emails manually.
Timeliness and Efficiency
Currently, the discharge paperwork takes a lot of time to process.
There is a need of timeliness in getting discharge paperwork done.
Billing and Cost Structure
- User suggests that HelixVM should work more on the aspect of one-on-one billing to enhance and improve this step
- A customer (patient/employee) should be provided with clarity on the involved costs and how it would fare using their insurance cover.
Discussion
Business partners accept and acknowledge that HelixVM provides a promising service which makes it easier for a customer (patient) to access healthcare. The providers are liked by the customers, and it is very quick to get a prescription from the comfort of one’s home. This allows a customer to rest and recover without having to visit any clinic or hospital physically. Business partners acknowledge that there is cost saving as reduced time on medical consultations is time saved to the company. There exists easy application and usage of HelixVM across different industry areas. Clear communication about costs, including copays and out-of-pocket expenses, is crucial for building patient trust and helping them make informed decisions. To increase adoption, it is essential for HelixVM to raise patient awareness through targeted marketing and educational campaigns.
Conclusion:
Overall, Customers and business partners express high satisfaction and an overall positive experience with HelixVM, with satisfaction ratings ranging from 6.5 to 10. Business partners shared some improvement areas such as further simplification of the process involved to set up a customer’s virtual console, ability to provide more clarity on the billing structure, timeliness in discharge paperwork and better system integration. Addressing these challenges through targeted marketing, cost transparency, and improved system integration can help drive broader adoption and ensure the long-term success of HelixVM.
Future Scope
Business partners want to increase the current engagement with HelixVM onto other services. They are keen to do more work with HelixVM in areas which are not just transactional but involve the use of recurring models.