New partnership will expand access to community-based care for Medicaid members in Richmond and Hampton Roads communities
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / April 24, 2025 / Waymark today announced a new value-based partnership with Sentara Health Plans, the health plan division of Sentara Health, aimed at transforming care delivery for Medicaid members. The collaboration will leverage Waymark's advanced data science technologies and community-based care teams to improve outcomes for Sentara Health Plans' Medicaid members in Hampton Roads and Richmond.
Waymark's local teams of community health workers (CHWs), clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, licensed behavioral health therapists, and care coordinators will integrate with Sentara Health Plans' existing primary care network. Waymark's care teams will identify and engage members at rising risk of avoidable emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, providing them with targeted clinical and social interventions. A 2024 study published in NEJM Catalyst found that Waymark's early interventions reduced all-cause hospital and ED visits by 22.9% for rising-risk patients in its first year of service.
"Our collaboration with Sentara Health Plans builds on our existing support for Virginia's Medicaid population and represents a significant step forward in our mission to make better health possible for those who need it most," said Dr. Rajaie Batniji, Co-Founder and CEO of Waymark. "By combining data-driven early interventions with a multidisciplinary care team, we are expanding provider capacity, reducing disparities and ultimately creating more equitable systems of care for Medicaid members in communities across Virginia."
Waymark will offer Sentara Health Plans Medicaid members proactive preventative care, and when needed, schedule and accompany patients to primary care physicians (PCP) appointments to reduce avoidable hospitalizations and ED visits. By streamlining care coordination and social services referral processes, Waymark will aim to reduce paperwork (social services and prior authorizations) for Sentara's PCPs. Their community-based teams will work to prevent avoidable disease complications and acute care utilization that negatively impact both patient health and costs.
"We're committed to advancing value-based payment models to reduce costs and improve access and quality of care for our Medicaid members," Robert Krebbs, Vice President of Network Management and Value-Based Care for Sentara Health Plans. "Waymark's technology and community-based teams will create additional capacity to support members outside of clinical settings, better address their social needs, and ultimately create healthier communities in Virginia."
The program will initially focus on serving Medicaid members in the Richmond and Hampton Roads areas, with plans to expand to additional regions across Virginia in the future.
Waymark has managed care for 35,000 Medicaid members in Virginia since launching in January 2023. The company enters into risk-based contracts with Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCO) to deliver community-based care for their rising-risk populations and transition primary care practices to value-based arrangements. By building a new community health workforce to support PCPs-paid for through value-based arrangements with MCOs-Waymark seeks to increase the capacity of our healthcare delivery system and align payment incentives to enable whole-person care.
About Waymark
Waymark is a public benefit company dedicated to improving access and quality of care for people receiving Medicaid. We partner with health plans and primary care providers-including health systems, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), and independent practices-to reduce disparities and improve outcomes through technology-enabled, community-based care. Our local teams of community health workers, pharmacists, therapists and care coordinators use proprietary data science and machine learning technologies to deliver evidence-based interventions to hard-to-reach patient populations. For more information, visit www.waymarkcare.com.
About Sentara Health
Sentara Health, an integrated, not-for-profit health care delivery system, celebrates more than 135 years in pursuit of its mission - "We improve health every day." Sentara is one of the largest health systems in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, and among the top 20 largest not-for-profit integrated health systems in the country, with 34,000 employees, 12 hospitals in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, including 10 hospitals with the prestigious Magnet® recognition, and the Sentara Health Plans division which serves more than one million members in Virginia and Florida. Sentara is recognized nationally for clinical quality and safety and is strategically focused on innovation and creating an extraordinary health care experience for our patients and members. Sentara was named a Health Quality Innovator of the Year (2024), and was recognized by Forbes as "America's Best-In-State Employer" (2024), "Best Employer for Veterans" (2022, 2023), and "Best Employer for Women" (2020).
About Sentara Health Plans
Sentara Health Plans provides health plan coverage to more than one million members in Virginia and Florida. Sentara Health Plans offers a full suite of commercial products including employee-owned and employer-sponsored plans, as well as Individual & Family Health Plans, Employee Assistance Programs and plans serving Dual-Eligible, Medicare, and Medicaid enrollees.
Contact Information
Iman Rahim
Communications
iman.rahim@waymarkcare.com
SOURCE: Waymark
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
