Apr 30, 2023
Yes, you read that right! A study finds that a Boston area practice, Family Practice Group, improved its HEDIS measure care gap metrics by as much as 31% by partnering with HealthHelper. But wait...there's more! The improvement came virtually with no extra effort by the practice staff, which is incredibly important given the current state of primary care in the US.
"HealthHelper is filling a real gap for us and taking a tremendous amount of work off our plate. Their combination of technology and services helps us improve contract performance, optimize provider schedules, and improve clinical quality. Our patients, providers, and staff all love it!"
-Dr. Laura Zucker, Lead Primary Care Physician at Family Practice Group.
Let’s jump straight into the results. The study revealed that in 2022 HealthHelper scheduled 1,164 appointments for Family Practice Group. Leveraging proprietary multi-modal drip campaigns, HealthHelper scheduled 43% of the patients who were contacted. And, the scheduling was completed in a highly scalable and consumer-centric fashion, with 71% of those appointments being scheduled entirely via HealthHelper's texting automation.

More importantly, the improvements in HEDIS quality metrics were significant and included both process and outcome measures. The practice experienced the following improvements from partnering with HealthHelper:
Breast cancer screening rates increased from 72 to 82 percent
Blood pressure control (<140/90 mm Hg) rates rose from 61 to 81 percent
Diabetic blood pressure control (<140/90 mm Hg) rates improved from 69 to 85 percent
A1C control (< 9%) improved from 66 to 79 percent
Attributed patients with visits increased from 64 to 72 percent
The results of the study conducted with Family Practice Group show that HealthHelper had a significant positive impact on patient outcomes. Moreover, the improvement in diabetic blood pressure control rates and A1C levels are both notable as they exceed the national average for adults with diabetes, which is 52.5% for blood pressure control and 45.8% for A1C control, as reported by the CDC. The increase in blood pressure control rates from 61% to 81% is also significant, considering that the national average for adults with hypertension is 45.7% and only 1 in 4 of those adults have their condition under control, according to the CDC.
The results of the study also show an improvement in process measures, an important component of high-quality preventive care. The increase in breast cancer screening rates from 72% to 82% is noteworthy, as it exceeds the national average of 72.4% for women aged 50-74, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Additionally, the increase in the number of attributed patients with visits from 64% to 72% is a positive sign, as it helps practices improve preventive care and the accuracy of their risk coding - which is such an important ingredient in value based care success.
Overall, the results of the study demonstrate the effectiveness of HealthHelper in improving patient outcomes, increasing patient engagement, and driving practice success.
So... how'd we do it?
HealthHelper drove these improvements through a technology-enabled service that offloaded practice staff of tedious panel management work. We acted as an extension of Family Practice Group's staff, working directly in their EHR augmented by our Panel Management Platform's scalable and automated workflows.
We began to schedule patients and deliver results in a matter of weeks, demonstrating a quick and easy onboarding process. Our Panel Management Platform ingested patient data from various sources, which included the EHR and population health tool. Then, via our proprietary algorithm and advanced data analytics, we prioritized patients for outreach. Our team of experts conducted chart reviews to confirm and validate the care gaps and the need for outreach in order to reduce patient friction from inaccurate outreach. Once confirmed, we placed patients onto our automated Care Outreach Drip Campaigns, which include a proprietary sequence of text messages, phone calls, and emails to directly schedule high-value appointments at the practice and close gaps in care outside of the office.
Furthermore, we're able to reach out to underserved populations as the technology allows for outreach in languages other than English. Statistics about the patient panel and outreach results are available in real-time via analytics dashboards. And lastly, to stay in lock step with the practice, we held regular meetings to adjust patient prioritization algorithms and outreach based on the needs of the practice at that particular time, which may include patient attribution, dormant patients, group visits, provider departure, and much more.
Would you like to learn more? Schedule a 30-minute conversation via this Calendly link.
HEDIS measures
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Breast Cancer Screening. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/basic_info/screening.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Facts About Hypertension. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/facts.htm#:~:text=Only%20about%201%20in%204,have%20their%20condition%20under%20control.&text=About%20half%20of%20adults%20(45,includes%2037%20million%20U.S.%20adults.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). High Blood Pressure. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/index.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Diabetes Report Card 2020. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/reports/reportcard.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data from the 2020 National Health Interview Survey. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/ER-HoursWorked-508.pdf
You may like these too
Care New England and Integra Achieve Remarkable Improvements with AI-Powered Care Gap Closure Services from HealthHelper
Care New England and Integra Community Care Network (Integra) embarked on a transformative partnership with HealthHelper, aiming to address care gaps and enhance population health management. In just the first year of the HealthHelper partnership, this collaboration has led to significant advancements in patient retention and quality metrics, underscoring the impact of innovative healthcare solutions.
Achieving Notable Increases in Preventive Screenings and Quality Metrics
Through the integration of HealthHelper’s technology-enabled care gap closure services, Care New England reported substantial improvements in preventive care screenings:
Breast Cancer Screenings: 13% increase
Colorectal Cancer Screenings: 16% increase
Hypertension Screenings: 10% increase
Diabetic Eye Exams: 61% increase
Diabetic HbA1c Screenings: 29% increase
These enhancements reflect a concerted effort to close care gaps and promote early detection, pivotal components of effective population health management.
Strengthening Patient Retention and Care Coordination
A cornerstone of the partnership’s success is the impressive 88% in-network retention rate for screening mammograms. By ensuring patients receive coordinated care within the Care New England system, the collaboration has fortified patient trust and continuity of care. This strong care coordination helps ensure that patients receive their follow up care while also improving the financial standing of an important healthcare provider to the Rhode Island community.
Financial Impact and Return on Investment
The partnership has also yielded significant financial benefits:
Appointments Scheduled: 5,245 across the care continuum in the first year
Return on Investment: 3.4x
These outcomes highlight the dual advantage of enhancing patient care while achieving financial sustainability.
Seamless Epic Integration and Provider Workflows
Implemented in under two months, HealthHelper’s solution seamlessly integrated with Care New England’s Epic platform. This swift deployment alleviated administrative burdens, allowing providers to focus on delivering exceptional patient care. One team member remarked, “This is the easiest implementation project I’ve ever had!”
Leadership Endorsement: A Model for Scalable Success
Dr. Ana Tuya-Fulton, President and Chief Operating Officer of Integra and Chief Population Health Officer of Care New England, emphasized the strategic value of the partnership:
“Our partnership with HealthHelper has delivered measurable value for both our health system and our ACO. Their AI-powered Care Gap Closure services have improved performance, driven results, and seamlessly integrated into our workflows.”
Better Population Health with AI-Powered Care Coordination and Care Gap Closure Services
By combining technology-driven automation with high-touch patient engagement, HealthHelper is transforming how healthcare organizations identify, engage, and close care gaps at scale.
To learn more about how HealthHelper’s AI-powered Care Gap Closure services can support your organization, contact Jake Kahane at jake@healthhelper.co. To read more about the partnership between HealthHelper, Care New England, and Integra, check out this post by Care New England.
Feb 27, 2025
AI & Automation in Care Gap Closure and Practice Workflows – A Q&A with Jake Kahane, Co-Founder of HealthHelper
At HealthHelper, we believe that healthcare providers should spend their time delivering care—not chasing administrative tasks, managing fragmented workflows, or struggling to keep up with complex payer contracts. Our mission is simple: to take the work off providers’ plates so they can focus on their patients.
To dive deeper into HealthHelper’s journey, the challenges we’re solving, and what’s ahead, I sat down with Jake Kahane, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer. We talked about what inspired him to start HealthHelper, the role AI plays in scaling care coordination, and his vision for the future of provider workflows.
From automating care gap closure to orchestrating complex workflows across healthcare networks, HealthHelper has built the infrastructure that allows providers to do more with less. Here’s what Jake had to say about how we got here—and where we’re headed next.
1. What inspired you to start HealthHelper?
The idea for HealthHelper really started with a simple observation: In population health, there’s no shortage of data—but providers struggle to turn that data into action. Health systems and medical groups have dashboards, reports, and lists of patients who need care, but actually operationalizing interventions—getting patients scheduled, closing care gaps, and ensuring follow-through—was a major challenge.
Over the years, I have learned a lot about patient engagement, care navigation, and what actually works to activate patients in their healthcare. It became clear that the place where this mattered most was primary care and preventive medicine—where the right intervention at the right time can prevent complications and improve long-term outcomes.
I wasn’t sure we were going to start a business, but I’ve always subscribed to the belief that when you have an idea, you just keep taking small steps forward and reassess along the way. The more we dug into the concept, the clearer it became that primary care providers were drowning in work. And when we started talking to them, practice managers, and staff, their reaction was the same: this would be a huge help.
That’s what keeps driving us today. We continue to hear from our clients that we’re making a real difference—offloading administrative burden, improving patient engagement, and ultimately helping practices succeed in both value-based and fee-for-service care.
2. What’s the biggest problem HealthHelper is solving today?
The biggest challenge we’re solving is simple: helping practices get more done with limited resources. Whether it’s a high-performing practice trying to scale or a group struggling to improve quality scores, the core issue remains the same—there’s too much work and not enough time or staff to handle it all effectively and efficiently.
We hear this all the time: “We’re doing fine now, but as we grow, we know this isn’t a scalable approach.” Even top-performing practices run into this. They’re doing well, but everything still feels manual, fragmented, and inefficient—and they know they can’t just keep working harder forever. And with constantly changing rules, payer demands, and operational complexities, it’s impossible to keep up without burning out.
The reality is, health systems, FQHCs, and medical groups know they need to close care gaps, improve coding accuracy, and meet quality targets—but they simply don’t have the bandwidth to do it efficiently. Staff are stretched thin, payer contracts keep evolving, and existing technology isn’t built to fit seamlessly into their workflows.
To make things even more challenging, hiring more people isn’t always the answer. Human capital is expensive, and many organizations can’t afford to throw money at the problem just to end up right back where they started. And when staff leave, it creates an even worse situation—disrupting workflows and setting them further back.
That’s where we come in. HealthHelper eliminates these barriers. We bring the right mix of technology, automation, and people to help practices actually get this work done—without adding to their burden.
From a product perspective, we’ve built a reliable, future-proof solution that not only helps practices scale—but also protects them when they need to contract. Whether they’re expanding or facing staffing shortages, they can rely on HealthHelper to provide stability, efficiency, and sustained performance—no matter what comes next.
3. HealthHelper is expanding its capabilities beyond closing care gaps. What’s next?
We’ve got some big product enhancements coming this year that we’re really excited about. I can’t share all the details just yet, but what I can say is that our clients keep asking us the same question: ‘What other workflows can HealthHelper help us scale?’
The reality is, healthcare has no shortage of inefficiencies and operational challenges. But solving them isn’t just about building technology—it’s about earning the trust of provider organizations to take these problems off their plate. That’s exactly what we’re doing.
Moving forward, HealthHelper will orchestrate and augment more of their workflows. We’ll be rolling out new solutions that allow practices and networks to quickly spin up tech-enabled workflows that scale, orchestrate, and hardwire best practices for specific patient populations. But this isn’t just technology, this includes the nimble service augmentation that actually gets the work done.
One of the biggest pain points we’re tackling is the constant changes in and impressive complexity of having to deal with a multitude of payer contracts. Every time a contract changes, practices aren’t in a position to completely overhaul their workflows for that payer’s patients. But with HealthHelper, they don’t have to. We combine technology and coordination resources to make those adjustments seamless.
Instead of spending weeks on planning, staffing, and change management, practices and networks can turn to HealthHelper to activate high-value workflows that drive performance improvements—without having to change their own workflow, without having to worry about tech integrations, and without adding more administrative burden. We orchestrate the workflow…and we execute the work.
4. What role do AI and automation play in HealthHelper’s future?
It’s an exciting time to be in care navigation—moreso than ever before, AI is allowing us to do more with fewer resources. But let’s be clear: AI isn’t here to replace providers or care teams—it’s here to amplify their impact.
At HealthHelper, we’re AI-enabling our care coordinators so that most of the patient engagement and care coordination can run on autopilot, while our team steps in when human judgment, creativity, and problem-solving are needed. Many patients want to know that there is a human there to help. HealthHelper clients learn quickly that in fact there are so many gaps and inefficiencies in healthcare that still require a real person to connect the dots, and that’s where the AI-plus-human approach becomes so powerful.
That’s also why we’re skeptical of companies claiming AI can do it all. Healthcare is complex. Data is messy. Systems don’t always talk to each other. We’ve seen firsthand that you still need people in the loop to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. That’s why our focus is on AI working alongside humans both to scale adoption of coordinator best practices and to actually take work off our clients’ plates—end to end.
5. Where do you see HealthHelper in five years?
When I think about where HealthHelper will be in five years, I think about the brand we’re building. Right now, we’re known as a trusted partner for primary care providers—an extension of their team that actually helps them get work done. That trust is everything, and it’s what sets us apart.
Five years from now, HealthHelper will still be that trusted partner—but our impact will go far beyond care gap closure. We’ll be known for orchestrating and augmenting all types of provider workflows—helping practices and health systems run more efficiently, scale operations, and do more with less.
We’ve already proven that we can seamlessly integrate into primary care teams and take work off their plates. That foundation gives us the ability to expand—taking on more administrative and operational burdens so that providers can focus on patient care. And as we grow, we’ll continue leveraging AI and automation to make our solutions even more effective and efficient.
Ultimately, I see HealthHelper becoming a critical infrastructure piece for primary care, health systems, and the networks that support them. We’ll be the go-to partner for healthcare organizations that want to scale highly effective provider workflows—powered by smart automation and deep healthcare expertise.
That’s where we’re headed, and I couldn’t be more excited about what’s next.
Feb 19, 2025
HealthHelper: Born From the Frontlines of Primary Care
I didn’t start my career thinking I’d build a company. I became a primary care physician to help people—to care for patients and make a real difference in my community. My days were full but meaningful—managing medications, seeing patients back-to-back, addressing urgent issues, and keeping the practice running smoothly.
But over time, something shifted.
Increasingly, my clinical responsibilities weren’t the only thing demanding my attention. I was handed chase lists—long lists of tasks tied to closing care gaps and meeting payer performance metrics. These lists weren’t just overwhelming—they were riddled with inaccuracies and existed completely outside of my primary systems and workflows. I’d review the lists, often feeling frustrated. I knew my team and I had already discussed many of these preventive screenings and follow-ups with our patients. So why were they still appearing?
Oh yeah…patients have lives outside of my clinic, they get busy and forget. So what am I supposed to do about this? I didn’t have the staff, tools, or time to systematically tackle this extra workload.
Some of my colleagues were using ad-hoc methods. One provider handed out bright pink slips to patients reminding them to schedule their mammograms, while others made verbal reminders to “come back in six months” for a diabetes follow-up. My team and I took to making phone calls when we had a spare moment (which were few and far between). It was inconsistent, inefficient, and often ineffective.
The challenge wasn’t just closing care gaps. It was that meeting these payer requirements directly impacted our ability to succeed as a practice—yet no one had a scalable, effective way to manage it.
I knew there had to be a better way.
The Turning Point
That’s why I founded HealthHelper.
I wanted to create a solution that took the work off providers’ plates—so they could focus on their patients, not on the endless administrative tasks required to perform well on payer contracts. I wanted to offer something that gave providers relief—the confidence that their practice could meet performance goals without compromising patient care. AND, it had to make it easy for patients, otherwise, it wouldn’t move the needle.
HealthHelper was built to solve exactly this problem.
We take on the work providers don’t have time for:
We close care gaps by identifying patients overdue for preventive services and actually scheduling their care for them.
We help you perform better on payer contracts by managing the operational lift of care coordination and patient engagement.
We become your performance partner, ensuring you meet key performance measures while reducing staff burden.
The Impact We Strive For
Today, HealthHelper works with providers and health systems to make sure no care gap goes unaddressed. Our team handles the administrative complexity, allowing care teams to focus on what they do best.
We’re not just a technology platform or service; we’re a true partner in performance.
To my fellow providers: I see you. I know how hard you’re working. HealthHelper exists to ensure you can keep doing what you love—caring for patients—while we take care of the rest.
Let’s make healthcare better, together.
Jan 11, 2025
Closing Care Gaps and Retaining Patient Care - Everyone is a Stakeholder
When we engage with a prospect, almost every individual within a healthcare organization, regardless of title, is a stakeholder. Many vendors lose sight of this fact and focus only on a narrow set of individuals based on their job descriptions. We don’t. We take a broader perspective, recognizing how our solutions impact various roles across the organization. For example, here’s a foundation on how we think about what we do and how it affects them:
Close Gaps in Care
CEO - You want the best for your patients and your employees while you continue to grow. Our tech-enabled services deliver concierge-focused patient engagement services. This not only enhances patient satisfaction and retention, but it also allows your clinical providers to focus on delivering care that truly makes a difference, enabling them to work at the top of their license. Providers who feel supported and have the tools they need are less likely to experience burnout or leave, fostering a stable and high-functioning clinical team.
CFO - You’re focused on the bottom line and want to ensure that partnering with HealthHelper generates a positive return on investment. Our solution drives clinical and financial success by enabling providers to concentrate on delivering care that meets the organization’s quality metrics and payer contract requirements. For multi-specialty groups, our proactive patient engagement reduces network leakage and retains patients within your system, enhancing patient loyalty and ensuring revenue capture. Across our customer base, we consistently deliver a 5X+ ROI by reducing administrative burden, retaining care, and improving outcomes.
Care Providers - You became a provider to practice medicine, not to spend your days making follow-up calls or chasing down patients. Our solution is designed to offload administrative tasks, so you can focus on delivering excellent care. We take on the burden of reaching out to patients, scheduling needed services, and ensuring they’re up-to-date on preventive and chronic care. This means fewer distractions and more time for meaningful patient interactions. Reclaim your time and focus on the work that inspired you to become a provider in the first place.
Practice Managers - Your role is to keep both your practice and your team running smoothly. Our services enable you to maximize productivity without burning out your staff. By offloading patient outreach and scheduling responsibilities to us, your practice team can prioritize higher-value tasks that keep the practice operating efficiently and effectively. You’ll notice the impact not just in workflow, but in team satisfaction and patient experience.
Risk-Bearing Entities - Whether you’re a health plan, ACO, MSO, or pay-vider, your mission is to deliver higher quality care at a lower cost. Achieving this requires closing care gaps that impact quality metrics, star ratings, and drive downstream costs. Yet, with practices already overwhelmed, it’s crucial to implement solutions that reduce, rather than add to, their workload. Our approach relieves your practices by taking on care coordination tasks and focusing on the outcomes you’re measured against. The result? Better quality scores, enhanced patient outcomes, and a stronger financial performance.
Lastly, but definitely not least, the patient. The whole reason all of us have a job. The reason we wake up every day and do what we do. When everyone in the healthcare ecosystem understands their role as a stakeholder and consistently delivers, the patient is the ultimate stakeholder and beneficiary. When they know where they need to be, when they need to be there, and why—and follow through—everyone wins. They reap the reward of happy providers, happy care providers, thought-leading CEOs, CFOs, and clinical leaders within any healthcare organization. THE PATIENT is why you succeed. THE PATIENT is why HealthHelper exists.
It’s time we look at the whole picture. Eliminate the tunnel vision, and provide solutions that benefit all stakeholders.






