DocGo Partners With Fresenius Medical Care For Remote Health Services

DocGo is hoping to take kidney care to the next level by extending its collaboration with Fresenius Medical Care to involve remote health services & monitoring, acute care administration, and critical care services.

The partnership between the two organizations began in 2019 when DocGo became FMC’s authorized medical transportation partner. DocGo CEO Anthony Capone said that the new arrangement strengthens the relationship between the companies. The goal of DocGo’s remote health services for nephrologists is to provide a tool for better disease management.

Capone remarked, “We’re there to say, ‘Hey, it looks like you may be gaining a little bit of weight day over day, just try and make sure that you don’t drink more than three or four ounces today, so things don’t get worse, but keep going on with your day, as opposed to, ‘I didn’t realize that I drank a cup of water, which is a normal thing to do as a human being, and now all of a sudden I’m spending the next two days in the hospital.’”

 

The Benefits of This Collaboration for Remote Health Services

• Through this collaboration, DocGo’s chronic disease management solution will give FMC, the leading provider of renal dialysis treatment in the U.S., access to valuable data.
• Patients at risk of developing end-stage renal disease and requiring urgent dialysis can be identified by DocGo as it collects monitoring data.
• With close observation, patients can get help from their provider or DocGo’s urgent care services before their conditions get worse. 
• According to Capone, this lets doctors spend less time debating whether or not their patients are following their care plans, freeing them up to treat those with the most serious conditions.

If an ambulance is required, DocGo can dispatch it to the hospital where the patient’s doctor believes they’ll receive the greatest care. The anticipated start date for the multi-year contract is May 1.

Capone remarked that data is essential, but that what you do with the information is important. The end aim is for the patient to be more stable and have fewer decompensations that require hospitalization by the time they return to their provider’s office. He added that when the patient’s condition appears to be rapidly deteriorating, we can quickly get on the scene to provide treatment.

The U.S. is home to an estimated 780,000 people with end-stage renal illness and 37 million people with chronic kidney disease; FMC alone provides treatment for more than 344,000 dialysis patients across the world.

DocGo’s RPM work started in cardiology, and the company plans to expand into endocrinology and pulmonary medicine soon. Capone thinks that because of the providers’ present workload, the application of the technology in subspecialties is still developing. He argues that clinicians may do a better job of restoring patients’ quality of life by focusing on longitudinal care if they are able to better track their patients and have DocGo triage them to the appropriate care services.

DocGo’s electric ambulance service, part of the company’s Zero Emission commitment to switch to an electric fleet by 2032, has garnered a lot of attention. Capone claims that the new relationship reduces emissions and saves customers money on petrol by eliminating the need for them to travel to the pharmacy for therapy.

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