The Art of Partnership

We often tell new patients that Synapticure will partner closely with their current care team. This concept might seem unusual–how often do virtual clinics work hand-in-hand with brick-and-mortar clinics?--but Synapticure has carefully honed this model, which ultimately leads to more holistic, comprehensive care experiences for patients.  In this post, I’ll try to demystify how these partnerships work, describing how we blend the accessibility of a virtual care team with the expertise of multidisciplinary ALS clinics and physicians on the ground.

A patient’s journey with Synapticure begins with a Care Coordination visit.  During that visit, each patient completes a consent form, which allows us to begin obtaining records from their clinic(s) or physician(s). After the visit concludes, the patient’s Care Coordinator then schedules an appointment with one of our specialized neurologists.

Before meeting with each patient, we (Synapticure physicians) thoroughly review the patient’s charts and ask about their top priorities. This pre-work enables us to come to visits well-versed in not only the patient’s history but also their current concerns.

Virtual visits look much like in-person visits: We discuss the history of the disease and review family history, medications, and supplements, and we then conduct a virtual examination.  After this, we take a deep dive into patients’ concerns, questions, and needs, and we develop  a personalized care plan. A full consultation note is then generated and sent to the clinic or physician that the patient chooses.  This is when our extra layer of care comes to life through partnership with clinics.

Below, I’ve outlined what our partnerships look like with three sample clinics. As you can see, we vary our levels of interaction based on what clinics want and need. These relationships are collaborative at their core, and so we tailor our approach based on what works best for them.

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Forging partnerships like these is an art; doing so requires flexibility, ingenuity, and mutual participation. Our success lies in our ability to communicate openly with partner clinics and to fit within their ways of working, so that we can jointly serve patients.

An endeavor like this takes creativity and progressive thinking. What was a pipe dream when I began clinical practice is now real:  A telemedicine clinic–staffed by top neurologists licensed in all 50 states, genetic counselors, nurses, social workers, medical assistants, and insurance navigators–is working shoulder-to-shoulder with Centers of Excellence, clinics, and neurologists, all to care for patients fighting neurodegenerative diseases. And yet, that pipe dream is reality today. Together, we are creating the future of care.

Will you join us today as we continue building the future, together?