SonarMD

SonarMD operates as a specialized care coordination company focused on the digestive health market, particularly for patients with chronic conditions like Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. The company was founded in 2015 by Dr. Lawrence R. Kosinski, a gastroenterologist with over three decades of clinical experience. His journey to creating SonarMD stemmed from his work building the Illinois Gastroenterology Group into the state's largest practice and a desire to shift gastroenterology from a fee-for-service model to a value-based care framework. This mission was catalyzed by a successful project with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to reduce costs and complications for Crohn's disease patients.

The firm's business model is rooted in value-based arrangements with health plans (payers) and gastroenterology practices (providers). SonarMD contracts with payers to manage their high-risk IBD patient populations, generating revenue by sharing in the cost savings realized from reduced healthcare utilization, such as emergency room visits and hospitalizations. This model aligns financial incentives, allowing providers to earn a share of the savings for their role in coordinating care, without altering their standard fee-for-service reimbursements. The service is typically provided at no cost to the enrolled patients or the participating medical practices.

The core of SonarMD's offering is a digital health platform that facilitates continuous patient monitoring between office visits. Patients participate by responding to monthly health assessments delivered via text or email, which are based on validated clinical surveys. A proprietary algorithm then analyzes these patient-reported outcomes to generate a numerical "Sonar Score," which tracks the patient's health status over time. The platform uses predictive analytics to identify patients at risk of clinical deterioration. When the system flags a concerning trend, SonarMD's clinical care team intervenes by contacting the patient for more details and then alerting the patient's specialist practice to enable early and proactive treatment before a health crisis occurs. To provide comprehensive support, the company also partners with other services to offer patients access to nutrition counseling, mental health services, and sleep improvement programs.

Keywords: value-based care, gastroenterology, inflammatory bowel disease, IBD, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, care coordination, patient monitoring, digital health, health plans, payers, provider solutions, cost reduction, predictive analytics, patient engagement, digestive health, chronic disease management, clinical outcomes, remote patient monitoring, health technology, specialty care, population health management, healthcare savings, proactive care