Papa Announces Digital Health Literacy Offering To Advance Health Equity For Older Adults And Other Underserved Populations

The service addresses new CMS health equity requirement for plans to identify and offer digital health education to members with low digital health literacy, ultimately improving access to care

Miami, FL /PRNewswire/ - Papa, a curated platform of companionship and support for older adults and families, today announced a new digital health literacy offering to bridge the care access gap and improve health equity among its members. Through this enhanced service, Papa is able to assess, address, and report on a range of digital health literacy needs to help health plans improve member access to quality health care and meet forthcoming health equity requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Specifically, starting in 2024, Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be asked to show innovative solutions that drive digital health literacy and collect data related to their programs for reporting to CMS. The World Health Organization defines digital health literacy as "the ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to addressing or solving a health problem."

Papa has long supported members with technology assistance. In fact, Papa's vetted and empathetic companions, called Papa Pals, have successfully completed more than 54,000 technology visits with MA members since January 2022. Papa has now layered on specific tasks related to CMS' goal of growing digital health literacy for dual-eligible, disadvantaged, and low-income members. Papa also provides additional reporting and expertise to ensure both members' and their health plans' digital health goals are met. This includes:

• Reporting on initial social needs assessments that evaluate digital health literacy, internet access, and more
• Hands-on support from social care navigators, who can connect members to health plan or community resources as needed
• Additional in-person support from Papa Pals, who can now access specific health plan resources, such as information on health portals and telehealth providers, directly in the Papa Pal app

Papa recognizes that, while our healthcare system becomes more reliant on technology, there are still many Americans who lack proper access to care due to specific knowledge gaps. Many MA members at risk are low income, disabled, over the age of 65, or live in rural communities. Thus, many lack access to the quality, consistent care they need to properly address their health. Papa's solution allows for a purpose-built network of Papa Pals to leverage existing, trusted relationships with members to help educate and enable them to develop the digital skills they lack today—highly important, as trust is cited as a top barrier to telehealth adoption and satisfaction.

"Leveraging our national network of Papa Pals and expert social care navigators, Papa's digital health literacy offering ensures members have the proper resources and support to stay connected with their care teams and mental health resources, no matter their race, age, or economic standing," said Andrew Parker, Papa founder and CEO. "Having a trusted companion sit side-by-side with members to guide them through new technology is invaluable and often the key to success, particularly when working with older populations. It's past time we address the technological barriers that exist in getting people the care they so desperately need, in the way that works—which often starts with a trusted relationship."

Today, 97% of all Medicare Advantage plans have a telehealth solution, however only a small percentage of members engage with those services. Thus, CMS is interested in consciously driving enrollment and use of these services to boost access to care and lower costs among MA beneficiaries. In-person help will be a key driver of success, as 73% of older adults say they need someone to help them set up and use new devices.

In Papa's core companionship program, 15% of members request technology assistance when they enroll with Papa, demonstrating the widespread need for this type of support. In addition to tech help, Papa Pals support members' social needs in countless ways, such as providing rides to appointments and helping out at home. To date, Papa Pals have completed nearly 2 million visits with members across the country, and the company is on track to complete nearly 1 million visits this year alone.

Papa's new digital health literacy offering is available as an add-on service to its core companionship benefit, as a standalone quality program, and as an included feature of Social Care Navigation. For more information, please visit www.papa.com/digital-health-literacy and register for Papa's AHIP webinar, "Aging in a Digital World: Improving Health Literacy Among Seniors," taking place Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 at 2 pm EST here.

About Papa
Papa is a new kind of care, built on human connection. Across the country, health plans and employers look to Papa to provide vital social support by pairing older adults and families with Papa Pals, trained and vetted companions, who provide a helping hand and an open ear, resulting in less loneliness and better health. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Miami, Papa is backed by Canaan, Tiger Global Management, Comcast Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, TCG, Initialized Capital, and Seven Seven Six, among other revered institutional and individual investors. We envision a world where no one has to go it alone. Learn more at papa.com.