Consumer / Employer, Payers

Horizon Taps Solera Health for Condition Management Platform

A new partnership between Horizon and Solera will initially focus on services for musculoskeletal conditions, stress, sleep and resilience, tobacco cessation and weight management. Employers who get their insurance through Horizon will be able to select which conditions its population needs care for and then employees will have access to a selection of health tech vendors for these conditions.

Horizon Healthcare Services has selected Solera Health to help connect members to a variety of services and point solutions, the companies announced Tuesday.

Horizon is New Jersey’s largest health insurer, covering more than 3.6 million lives. Phoenix, Arizona-based Solera Health works with payers and employers to match members and employees to a variety of point solutions.

The partnership between Horizon and Solera will initially focus on services for musculoskeletal conditions, stress, sleep and resilience, tobacco cessation and weight management. Employers who get their insurance through Horizon will be able to select which conditions its population needs care for and then employees will have access to a selection of health tech vendors for these conditions.

“We’re making life easier for payers and employers who are quite overwhelmed with all these offerings right now, and it’s creating point solution fatigue that we’re seeing really hit a fever pitch in the market,” said Mary Langowski, CEO of Solera Health.

Solera’s partner vendors include WeightWatchers and Betr for weight management, Sword and Sworkit for musculoskeletal conditions, Clickotine and EX Program for tobacco cessation and Ginger and Headspace for mental health. Companies’ employees access Solera’s services through a web-based platform offered by Horizon, and answer a series of questions about their condition. The company’s AI algorithm then matches them with a vendor that best fits their needs.

For example, “not everybody needs cognitive behavioral therapy,” Langowski said. “Some people need temporary stress reduction techniques, so it may be Headspace instead of [cognitive behavioral therapy] through Ginger. That saves a ton of money for employers and payers because getting the person to where it’s most relevant and where they’re going to be the most successful is really important clinically.”

Solera then tracks clinical outcomes and performance to provide employers with insight into how successful vendors are and how their members are doing. Solera will be paid by Horizon on a value-based payment model by improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs, and then will pay its vendor partners on a value-based model as well. Langowski declined to provide additional information on the business model of the partnership.

By working with Horizon, Solera aims to reduce the burden of managing point solutions and direct patients to the care they need.

“In this partnership, as is the case with any of our partnerships, our goal is to get as many people on the platform and help them get healthier, keep them engaged and help them through their health journey,” Langowski said.

Similar companies to Solera include Quantum Health and Accolade, though Langowski said she considers them to be complementary to Solera instead of competitors. She added that what sets Solera apart from other companies is its platform’s integration with point solutions and payers, which allows for more objective reporting on clinical outcomes.

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