will work to ensure that Jefferson’s
healthcare delivery infrastructure
will deliver care more efficiently,
cost effectively and
with improved outcomes,” Welltower
Chairman and CEO Tom DeRosa said.
Clinicians from Philadelphia-based Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health will provide care at area senior housing, assisted living and memory care communities in the portfolio of Toledo, OH-based real estate investment trust Welltower under the terms of what is expected to be a long-term partnership, announced Monday.
A definitive agreement is expected to be executed within 90 days, but a memorandum of understanding already has been signed. The agreement even could see the entities building senior living communities together in the future, they said.
Welltower said the agreement is a first-of-its-kind partnership between the REIT and a major academic health system, as Jefferson clinicians would work to address social determinants of health for aging populations by managing residents’ full continuum of care, from pre-acute to acute and now post-acute.
“Welltower and Jefferson are well aligned in our thinking that much of the current built environment for healthcare delivery cannot meet the promise of technological innovation and value-based care,” Welltower Chairman and CEO Thomas J. DeRosa said in a statement. “Jefferson, a leader in delivering care outside the hospital walls, together with Welltower, will work to ensure that Jefferson’s healthcare delivery infrastructure will deliver care more efficiently, cost effectively and with improved outcomes.”
Welltower did not name the senior living communities that would be involved in the initiative, but operators in its portfolio with properties in the Philadelphia area include Brandywine Living, HCR ManorCare / Arden Courts and Sunrise Senior Living.
Technology in the mix
Welltower and Jefferson said they foresee residents at their facilities being tracked by Jefferson clinicians through wearable devices, alert messaging integrated into electronic medical records, mobile-enabled communications and wellness tracking to reduce some of the social determinants that negatively affect health outcomes.
“These living facilities could truly provide healthcare services with the future in mind,” Stephen K. Klasko, M.D., MBA, president of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health, said in a statement. “An environment where you wake up and your home monitor device has collated the data from your wearable device and medical history and cross-referenced that data with the day’s pollen count to make recommendations on how you should manage your day. This is what we mean when we talk about Jefferson using creative strategic partnerships and innovation to change healthcare.”
In the joint venture, Welltower would acquire a stake in certain real estate assets of Jefferson, enabling Jefferson to reduce some of its fixed asset investments and redeploy the capital to other areas. In addition to the joint venture, Welltower would help Jefferson grow in ambulatory care through capital support and use its predictive analytics to guide future real estate investments.
