New mobile primary healthcare practice Olive Health is bringing increased access and quality care to local vulnerable communities with an innovative approach to providing health care.
Olive Health provides mobile services like telehealth, primary care, blood work, medication management, medication refills, IV therapy and medication delivery. The practice accepts Medicaid, Medicare as well as other insurances, making it possible for the disabled community to receive quality care that is affordable.
Specially Fit Foundation Owner and Founder Mark Oliver started Olive Health to help the disabled community that he works with. The personal trainer launched Specially Fit Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves over 400 individuals with developmental disabilities by providing fitness classes, Special Olympic opportunities and group home access. The nonprofit faced various challenges during the pandemic.
While helping a client, Oliver witnessed how extremely time-consuming it was to find a physician that would take Medicaid, which is a primary insurance for residents of group homes and many within the disabled community. When he found somebody who accepted the insurance, it was almost a two-month waiting list. Additionally, when the visit was finally complete, there was a lack of quality care.
“I’ve always known that there was a problem with our health care system; however, I did not know how big this problem was until I helped open a group home,” said Oliver.
Yvette Guzman, a nurse practitioner and a volunteer for the Specially Fit Foundation, helped fill that void. Guzman, who was already familiar with the athletes as a volunteer at practices, helped provide Special Olympic physicals before and after practice, which allowed the families easier access to care. Her role within the organization expanded as the need for health care within group homes increased. She now visits the residents at the group home, allowing Oliver and his staff to experience significantly less barriers in regard to care for their clients.
“Health care has become so unnecessarily complicated,” said Guzman. “Providing a mobile service makes it so much easier for the patients. People are all far too busy and do not have the time to sit in an office waiting room for hours to be seen for 10 minutes. Being in the comfort of your home for an annual physical or for a blood draw makes life so much easier. In addition, getting care in your own home reduces the number of contacts for potential COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.”
Both Guzman and Oliver are committed to providing high-quality and easily accessible care without increased cost, and they believe that this is the future of health care.
“If we want to stay true to our values and mission, we have to accept every insurance,” said Oliver. “We have contracted with Medicaid, Medicare and every other large insurance possible.”
According to Oliver, Olive Health has skyrocketed since launching its practice and has been growing their team to keep up with the demand. Olive Health makes it easy for patients to communicate with medical staff and it has an app for clients to download so that it can track their health records and have medication delivered to their homes in 24 hours at no additional cost.
The Olive Health team is available 24-7. Patients can book an appointment online or call the number on the website. Olive Health serves everyone, from individuals with disabilities, pediatrics, group homes, foster homes, nondisabled and healthy individuals who just want a checkup. For more information, visit the website at olivehealthfl.com.
