Unlocking Health Innovations: SCAN’s PATH Program Celebrated with Prestigious Hearst Health Prize

SCAN, a nonprofit healthcare company, recently won the 2025 Hearst Health Prize for its innovative PATH platform. This program helps primary care clinicians care for seniors at home, in nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

The Hearst Health Prize is awarded to healthcare programs that make strides using data science. Chuck Tuchinda, a top executive at Hearst Health, presented the award on May 28 at the UCLA Health Data Day Symposium.

SCAN Health Plan provides services to over 300,000 members across California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and New Mexico. Its Independence at Home program offers essential support to seniors and their caregivers. Since 2020, SCAN has rolled out several focused medical groups, including Healthcare in Action and Welcome Health, each designed to meet older adults’ unique needs.

The PATH platform combines data from electronic health records, claims histories, and health risk assessments to give a complete picture of each senior’s health. It uses this data to create individual risk scores based on the 4Ms of geriatrics—a framework that helps deliver quality care for older adults. This streamlined information allows clinicians to manage their patients more effectively.

Launched in 2023, PATH is now a standard part of care for over 65 clinicians covering more than 6,000 patients. Vinay Kulkarni, SCAN’s chief information officer, noted that the platform saves time for healthcare teams and improves patient outcomes.

Dr. Gabriel Waterman, SCAN’s Vice President of Primary Care, explained how PATH changes the approach to care. Unlike traditional practices, where patients call for appointments, home-based care lets clinicians prioritize which seniors need immediate attention. This ensures that each patient receives the necessary care without delays.

Dr. Anthony Nguyen, CEO of Welcome Health, emphasized PATH’s flexibility in risk stratification. Clinicians can tailor their views based on various inputs, making it easier to identify and treat higher-risk patients effectively.

One remarkable achievement of this program is its low 7.5% readmission rate for patients leaving hospitals or nursing homes. This statistic highlights that the right care can keep seniors healthier and reduce costs for the healthcare system.

Experts recognize PATH’s impact not only in improving individual patient care but also in shaping broader healthcare practices. Alex Bui, UCLA professor and co-director of the UCLA Center for AI & SMART Health, expressed hopes that PATH’s success could inspire further advancements in health data science.

The PATH platform illustrates how technology can enhance healthcare, particularly for vulnerable senior populations. By integrating data effectively and focusing on individualized care, SCAN is setting a standard for what elder care can be today and in the future.



Source link