Northwell Direct, a subsidiary of New Hyde Park, New York-based Northwell Health, has partnered with virtual care company Conversa Health to offer employers a Covid-19 screening tool for their employees.

Northwell Direct was developed over the last two years and established earlier this year. It was created to bring clinical services and other capabilities from within the health system directly to employers for the benefit of their employees, Nick Stefanizzi, CEO of Northwell Direct, said in a phone call.

There are two sides to the business, Stefanizzi explained. One involves the direct delivery of clinical services, such as organizing flu shot campaigns for employees, and the other involves a health insurance product for self-insured employers.

“The health system is really big, so [we wanted] to create one operating entity that can serve as that sort of point of entry and navigation partner for businesses to leverage capabilities that are resident within the health system,” Stefanizzi said.

“[Northwell Direct] has really taken off as businesses are thinking about how to respond to the ongoing Covid crisis,” he added. “The health system has had a very significant leadership role in the regional and, frankly, national response to Covid. So, businesses have almost instinctively turned to us to ask ‘how might you be able to help us as we think about things like bringing employees back into the workplace?'”

That is where the new collaboration with Conserva Health comes in. The health system is an investor in the company, which provides artificial intelligence-enabled virtual care and triage programs.

Per the latest collaboration, employers that contract with Northwell Direct will have access to Conversa Health’s COVID-19 HealthCheck tool. The tool, which can be used on phones, tablets or computers, engages employees in an automated chat that determines possible exposure to the new coronavirus and potential symptoms of Covid-19. If cleared, employees receive a digital badge that they can use to be granted entry to the workplace. If they are not cleared, the employees are told to stay home and given instructions for next steps.

This technology can be used on its own or as a complement to Northwell Direct’s other services, Stefanizzi said.

For example, Northwell Direct has built a clinical concierge service for the businesses it contracts with. The businesses’ employees have 24/7 access to a call center that they can use to discuss questions and concerns with nurses. If needed, the employees are clinically triaged and directed to appropriate facilities for further care.

Today, the focus of this clinical concierge service is very Covid-specific, Stefanizzi said. And as a result of the new collaboration, the Conversa tool can be used to identify employees with possible exposures to Covid-19 or those showing symptoms, and then guide those employees to connect with the concierge service.

“The thing that we are really trying to do here is to support the recovery of the economy, to support businesses as they think about continuing to navigate this new normal,” Stefanizzi said. “And why I say continuing to learn how to navigate is because we learn something new about this virus every day…The questions and concerns employers are grappling with are not going away.”

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