Transforming Remote Supports for Colorado’s Medicaid Members Through Technology-Enabled Care

For many low-income individuals across Colorado, independence is fragile. A missed medication reminder can become a hospitalization. A caregiver shortage can leave someone living with disabilities, chronic illness, cognitive challenges, or behavioral health conditions without the support they need to safely remain at home. For individuals living in rural communities or socially isolated environments, those gaps in care can become even more severe.

These are the realities facing many Medicaid recipients enrolled in Colorado’s Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs.

Apollo Telecare believed there had to be a better way.

In partnership with Claris Healthcare, Apollo built a modern Remote Supports model designed to extend human connection, improve safety, and increase independence for vulnerable populations — without requiring participants to leave their homes or navigate complicated technology.

What emerged was more than a digital health initiative. It became a scalable, person-centered care ecosystem that empowered low-income Medicaid members across Colorado to stay connected to caregivers, participate in wellness programs, access face-to-face virtual support, and maintain greater independence in their daily lives.

Over a 16-month period, Apollo grew its active participant population by 212% while maintaining near-perfect alert responsiveness, exceptionally high engagement rates, and measurable improvements in participant connection and wellness.

The results demonstrate what is possible when technology is designed not to replace care — but to bring more care, more consistently, to the people who need it most.

Understanding Colorado’s Remote Supports Waiver

Colorado’s Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) administers Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers designed to help individuals remain safely in their homes and communities rather than entering institutional care settings.

Remote Supports became a standalone HCBS Medicaid service in Colorado in 2024 and was created to provide virtual supervision, cueing, wellness monitoring, medication reminders, and remote engagement for individuals who can safely perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) with virtual guidance rather than continuous physical assistance.

The waiver populations served often include:

• Individuals with disabilities
• Older adults with chronic conditions
• Individuals with brain injuries
• Participants with behavioral or mental health challenges
• Low-income Medicaid recipients at risk of institutionalization

For these populations, remaining independent often depends on having reliable daily support, consistent communication, and rapid intervention when issues arise.

Apollo Healthcare Partners recognized that traditional in-person care models alone could not sustainably meet those needs at scale.

Building a Virtualized Model of Care

Apollo deployed Claris Companion as the foundation of its Remote Supports strategy across Colorado Medicaid waiver populations.

Using simplified, senior-friendly tablets and an integrated virtual care platform, Apollo created a system that enabled participants to:

• Connect instantly with caregivers through video calls
• Receive wellness and medication reminders
• Participate in wellness surveys and group programming
• Access cognitive engagement activities
• Send and receive secure messages
• Trigger alerts and receive rapid staff responses

Importantly, the technology was intentionally designed for individuals with limited digital literacy.

The results proved that vulnerable Medicaid populations could successfully adopt technology when the platform was built around accessibility and simplicity rather than technical complexity.

Rather than becoming another disconnected healthcare application, the platform evolved into an everyday communication and support system integrated into participants’ lives.

Reducing Isolation Through Human Connection

One of the clearest outcomes of Apollo’s Remote Supports model was the reduction of social isolation through continuous engagement.

Participants completed more than 29,000 purposeful digital touchpoints centered around connection, wellness, and engagement.

• 22,507 completed video calls
• 6,417 cognitive game sessions
• 848 wellness check-ins

These were not passive check-ins.

They were meaningful, relationship-based interactions that allowed caregivers to maintain face-to-face engagement with participants regardless of geography, staffing limitations, or transportation barriers.

The steady increase in completed calls strongly reinforced that virtual engagement had become an embedded part of participants’ support systems rather than a temporary intervention.

Improving Safety Through Real-Time Responsiveness

Remote Supports programs only succeed when safety and responsiveness are dependable.

Apollo demonstrated exceptional operational performance throughout the reporting period:

Alert categories included:

• Check-ins
• Wellness surveys
• Medication reminders
• Device alerts
• Missed calls
• “Call Me” requests

Several caregivers individually resolved more than 500 alerts during the study period, reflecting a highly responsive and operationally mature care model.

Alert activity also grew significantly over time — increasing from approximately 245 alerts per month in early 2025 to nearly 1,400 alerts monthly by March 2026.

Rather than signaling instability, this increase reflected expanding participant engagement and deeper integration of virtual supports into daily care delivery.

Empowering Participants Through Technology

One of the most compelling findings from Apollo’s deployment was the level of participant-driven engagement.

Members themselves initiated 9,659 messages through the platform — nearly half of all communication activity recorded during the reporting period.

This challenged a longstanding assumption in healthcare technology: that vulnerable Medicaid populations struggle to meaningfully engage with digital tools.

Instead, Apollo’s participants became active users of their care ecosystem.

The platform enabled individuals to advocate for themselves, communicate with staff, request assistance, and participate more independently in their own support plans.

Strengthening Emotional Wellness

The platform also generated measurable indicators tied to emotional well-being and participant stability.

Apollo’s wellness survey data showed:

• 65% of all completed surveys returned “Good” or “Great” ratings
• Only 1.5% of responses were categorized as “Terrible”

The data suggests that consistent virtual engagement, proactive check-ins, and reliable communication can play a meaningful role in reducing isolation and supporting emotional wellness among vulnerable Medicaid populations.

Operational Workforce Excellence

Beyond participant outcomes, Apollo demonstrated that Remote Supports can also improve workforce scalability and operational sustainability.

Care teams managed:

• 20,378 total platform messages
• 14,489 resolved alerts
• Continuous communication and engagement across the participant population

Rather than replacing caregivers, Claris Companion amplified caregiver effectiveness by enabling faster interventions, proactive outreach, and more consistent engagement.

This model allowed Apollo to extend human-centered care to more people without sacrificing responsiveness or participant connection.

Demonstrating Medicaid Cost Savings

Remote Supports offers a cost-effective alternative to institutional care. While Apollo’s services average $3,000 per month per individual, traditional settings like assisted living often cost double that amount. By using a conservative estimate of $2,000 in monthly savings per client, supporting 20 individuals to remain independent for over three years generates approximately $40,000 in monthly savings—totaling nearly $480,000 annually. These figures highlight the significant value of Remote Supports in delaying or preventing the need for more expensive care settings.

A New Model for Medicaid-Funded Care

Colorado’s HCBS Remote Supports initiative was designed to help vulnerable individuals remain safely independent while reducing reliance on institutional care settings.

Apollo Healthcare Partners operationalized that vision at scale.

Through its partnership with Claris Companion, Apollo created a technology-enabled care model that delivered measurable outcomes across:

• Participant engagement
• Safety monitoring
• Wellness support
• Caregiver responsiveness
• Social connectedness
• Workforce scalability
• Independence and community integration

The results demonstrate that Remote Supports are no longer simply a compliance requirement or supplemental service.

They are becoming a foundational model for the future of Medicaid-funded care.

Most importantly, this model allows vulnerable individuals to remain where they overwhelmingly want to be:

At home. In their communities. Connected to care.

These surveys allowed caregivers to gain deeper insights into patient wellbeing, enabling earlier intervention when symptoms or risks appeared.