Telehealth News and Market Developments
Axios: Tech is going all-in on mental health (10/30) – "We've learned that technology can fill several big gaps when it comes to mental health care delivery," said Neha Chaudhary, co-founder of Stanford University's Lab for Mental Health Innovation.
- It can offer patients solutions that don't require travel to an office or sitting on a six-month waitlist, Chaudhary said.
- It can also get around some of the stigma that plagues mental health care. "[I]t can take a lot to show up to, say, a doctor's office. It doesn't take that much to log into an app on your phone," Chaudhary said.
- Another advantage: Devices can help track people's moods by prompting them to take surveys or tracking their activity levels, signaling to providers when a patient may be in acute crisis, said Johannes Thrul, assistant professor in mental health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Axios: Sen. Rosen says telehealth is needed to help senior citizens with health care access (10/29) – On October 29, Axios health care editor Tina Reed will explore how technological advancements are transforming the way seniors access and receive health care, featuring Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) "We have to be sure when we talk about seniors that they have access to care in rural or underserved communities," Senator Rosen said. "We need to get providers out there and we need to give them telehealth and even telephone, and that's really important, and we need to expand the providers that are there," she added.
American Medical Association (AMA): At Johns Hopkins, COVID-19 made telemedicine a mainstay in med ed (10/29) – During a panel discussion at ChangeMedEd® 2021, Brian T. Garibaldi, MD, MEHP, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, outlined a formative assessment that quickly and successfully switched from in-person visits to virtual visits. “We had no shared understanding of what a telemedicine visit should be,” Dr. Garibaldi said. “We also had no real understanding of what we should be able to accomplish with a telemedicine physical exam. So, we pivoted our APECS assessment to include telemedicine—or to actually just be telemedicine.”
Modern Healthcare: Physical therapy telehealth startup Hinge Health rakes in $600 million (10/28) – Hinge Health, a telehealth startup focused on providing care for back and joint pain, raised $600 million in new financing, the company announced. Eighty percent of employers and 90% of health plans with a digital musculoskeletal solution use Hinge Health.
mHealth Intelligence: 23andMe Merger Targets Personalized Primary Care Access, Telehealth (10/27) – Consumer genetics and research company 23andMe has announced plans to acquire the telehealth platform Lemonaid Health to increase access to personalized primary care. Following the merger, 23andMe consumers will have access to Lemonaid Health’s telehealth services and prescription medication delivery service.
Fierce Healthcare: Truepill's $142M series D boosts valuation to $1.6B as it expands reach to health plans, providers (10/27) – Digital health company Truepill has combined pharmacy fulfillment, telehealth and at-home testing services for consumers and is aiming to expand its reach with health plans, providers and employer groups fueled by $142 million in fresh capital.
HIT Consultant: NorthShore Integrates with TytoCare to Expand Telehealth Offerings (10/27) – – NorthShore University HealthSystem, announced a new partnership with on-demand, remote medical exam provider TytoCare to expand its telehealth offerings. The integration of the TytoCare device and platform into NorthShore’s current telehealth appointments enhances the health system’s ability to diagnose and treat patients remotely with in-depth, physical examinations during video visits.
Cigna: Cigna Makes On-Demand Virtual Care Easier and More Convenient Through Expanded MDLIVE Services (10/26) – Cigna Health Plan announced it is significantly expanding access to covered virtual care services for millions of customers. The integrated services will include digital-first primary, dermatology, behavioral and urgent care. Additionally, MDLIVE physicians will join Cigna's group of collaborative care providers, giving them access to patients' health information for a more connected, coordinated experience.
American Telemedicine Association: ATA Launches Initiative to Advance Role of Telehealth in Eliminating Health Disparities (10/26) – The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), the premier organization working to accelerate the adoption of telehealth, today announced the launch and first phase of action in a new initiative to assess the applications of telehealth in addressing and eliminating health disparities in the U.S. Led by a team of leaders in diverse healthcare areas including providers, payers, community health organizations and policymakers, the new ATA CEO’s Advisory Group has worked to outline a new framework for eliminating health disparities that will be the foundation of ongoing strategic analysis and a series of policy recommendations in the months ahead.
Healthcare IT News: Concentra reduces clicks to visit and no-shows with new telehealth system
(10/25) – Concentra a Texas-based healthcare organization that serves the occupational health needs of one in four injured employees launched a sophisticated telemedicine platform eVisit in 2020. The reporting features including real-time reports, instead of manual reduced clicks to visit from 27 to 8, and enhanced reporting in real-time across the entire platform, which allows staff to:
- Improve staffing models
- Immediately address cancellations – they can see the reason for the cancellation immediately; staff can address that same-day within minutes and get back on track with that patient and the schedule
- Training – if staff are seeing a care coordinator who is very efficient, they have modeled that and trained others to be more efficient and effective
- Helps with quality audits
- Reduced no-shows by 10%
|