March 3, 2026
More than 30 percent of U.S. adults lack a primary care physician, a gap that often leads to delayed or missed preventive care. Over time, it increases the use of already overburdened emergency departments for routine medical needs and contributes to the progression of unmanaged chronic conditions. The impact is most pronounced among the vulnerable who face transportation problems, long appointment wait times, and other social determinants of health that make getting office-based care difficult.
To close this gap, we need new models of care delivery that meet patients where they are, both clinically and physically.
What Longitudinal Care Means and Why It Matters
Longitudinal care refers to an ongoing, relationship-based approach to healthcare in which clinicians follow patients over time, not just when a medical need arises. At its core, longitudinal care is built on consistency and trust. By developing familiarity with a patient’s medical history, barriers to care, and evolving needs, clinicians are better positioned to intervene earlier, manage chronic conditions more effectively, and deliver preventive care more reliably.
In Q4 2025, DocGo launched its Longitudinal Care Services program in partnership with a California-based health plan, LA Care. The program leverages DocGo’s affiliate medical practice’s capabilities to facilitate preventive care, chronic care management, and transitional care services to approximately 10,000 plan members who are under-engaged in their healthcare. By combining telehealth services with scheduled house calls, DocGo brings care directly to patients while maintaining close coordination with the broader healthcare ecosystem.
A Hybrid Model of Care
For Keith Bentley, PA-C, Senior Director of Clinical Excellence and Program Development at DocGo, the program reflects both the evolution of the company’s clinical offerings and his own professional experience. Before joining DocGo, Bentley spent years as a paramedic & physician assistant in humanitarian roles serving rural and underserved communities.
“In a lot of those places, a simple visit with a primary care clinician might be the only care someone gets all year,” Bentley said. “That stays with you.”
When Bentley joined DocGo, the company was already facilitating care gap closure services and had launched traditional primary care and transitional care programs in New York City. He views longitudinal care as a natural extension of that work, sitting between episodic care gap closures and full primary care.
Health plans provide DocGo with lists of members who are disengaged from care, often due to difficulty securing timely appointments, transportation limitations, or prior negative experiences with the healthcare system. Clinicians from DocGo’s affiliated clinical practice group then visit patients in their homes to deliver essential preventive and chronic care services. Using connected diagnostic equipment, our licensed clinicians collect clinical data and provide hands-on care under the supervision of virtual advanced practice providers. This hybrid model allows patients to receive comprehensive care without the logistical challenges of traveling to a clinic.
Partnering With Existing Primary Care Providers
The central principles of the program are collaboration and continuity of care. Many patients enrolled in longitudinal care already have primary care providers. DocGo’s role is to support those relationships by filling gaps when patients cannot secure timely appointments or are unable to travel to a clinic.
“We are not trying to replace the PCP,” Bentley explained. “We want to be a partner in the patient’s care and help maintain continuity when access becomes a challenge.”
For patients without an established primary care provider, the program creates an opportunity to reintroduce them into the healthcare system. DocGo’s care teams focus on re-engaging these members — understanding what barriers to care they face, addressing immediate care needs, and rebuilding trust through consistent follow-up.
Value for Health Plans
“Based on the proven success of our care gap closure and transitional care management programs, LA Care is expanding this program to include longitudinal care,” said Lee Bienstock, CEO of DocGo. “Expanding with an existing partner demonstrates the quality of our offering and the impact our programs can have on patient health and payer quality scores.”
Health plans benefit from improved member engagement, better chronic condition management, and stronger quality performance. In California, like in many states, capitated arrangements can force health plans and primary care providers to share financial risk. Supporting high-need patient populations through longitudinal engagement helps stabilize outcomes and manage costs across the care continuum.
As Bentley noted, longitudinal care itself is not new, but what DocGo does is rare–facilitating care at scale as part of an integrated platform.
“If a patient needs urgent care, labs, or care gap closure, it’s one provider,” Bentley said. “That simplicity matters. It improves visibility for patients and makes care easier to navigate.”
A Repeatable Blueprint for Success
The success of the program in California has driven interest from payer partners across the country. “The relationships we’ve built with payers like LA Care have resonated in multiple states,” said Keith Bentley. “We’re seeing the same needs and the same questions. It tells us we’re building a repeatable blueprint that works for patients, primary care providers, and health plans.”
Building on that momentum, DocGo plans to expand longitudinal and preventive care programs into four to five additional states in 2026, responding to growing demand for in-home vaccination programs, preventive services, and flexible care delivery models. For patients who have long faced barriers to care, that expansion can’t come soon enough.
DocGo is used as a general term to describe the DocGo business as a whole, including the services provided by its network of affiliated professional practice entities.
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