In a step aimed at empowering family caregivers of its health plan members, VNS Health is introducing a new app that allows caregivers to connect with their loved ones’ health insurance benefits and medical records, as well as educational resources related to various health conditions—all in a single location.
The app, called Helpful, is available for download on the App Store and Google Play, and can be accessed via the web. VNS Health will be introducing Helpful to its caregiver population this fall.
Working in partnership with Helpful, VNS Health is the first health plan to deploy the new app. “We’re excited to be collaborating with Helpful on this project,” says Aman Shah, VNS Health’s Vice President for New Ventures & Strategic Partnerships. “Their innovative, user-friendly product aligns perfectly with VNS Health’s vision—which is to make health care simple to understand, easy to access and meaningful in outcomes.”
One important feature of the Helpful app is that it lets family caregivers link to any health system their loved one has a relationship with. Once linked, the member’s information can be viewed on the app, including after-visit summaries and medications.
“If someone has received care from several different health systems, they’ll no longer have to access each system separately to see their records,” Shah explains. “With the Helpful app, all these different records are viewable in the app and are continually updated, allowing a member or their caregiver to view medications and test results, summaries of doctor’s visits, and plans of care, all in one place.”
On the insurance side, the Helpful app displays key benefits that are relevant to the member’s current needs. It also has a search function that lets users pull detailed information on any specific benefit in the member’s health plan.
Once the app is launched, VNS Health will track its usage and impact on members’ use of benefits that tend to be underutilized, such as flu vaccination and dental services—providing a gauge of the app’s effectiveness in promoting caregivers’ awareness of their loved one’s benefits as a key part of managing their care.
Helpful is available to caregivers of those on original Medicare and will be available to caregivers of VNS Health plan members this fall. For more information and to sign up, please visit wearehelpful.com
