MobiHealthInformation’ predictions for 2021: Price transparency instruments will probably be a sport changer, telemedicine use will even out
In 2020 well being tech lastly had its day within the highlight and made it into practically each supplier group because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, as increasingly Americans are vaccinated, a few of that brick-and-mortar care will return.
Regardless, it is clear to see that digital well being is right here to remain. MobiHealthInformation did our greatest to look into the crystal ball and made 5 predictions about what is going to occur in that house this yr.
Telemedicine utilization will even out, however will retain quite a few new adopters
During the early days of the coronavirus pandemic we noticed unprecedented use of telemedicine. In truth, a examine in MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly reported that telehealth visits elevated by 154% over the past week of March in contrast with the identical interval in 2019.
This gave sufferers extra publicity to digital instruments, and telemedicine particularly. But as clinics and hospitals start to ask sufferers again in, there will probably be some night out.
However, it’s unlikely that telemedicine will return to pre-pandemic charges now that customers have been onboarded to the method. Most doubtless a choose group of sufferers will go for telemedicine by default and others will use it in sure conditions, reminiscent of pressing care.
In truth, based on the Accelerate Health 2020 Consumer Telehealth survey, a ballot of two,052 people balanced to the U.S. inhabitants, 77% survey-takers stated they might be keen to make use of at the very least one sort of telehealth expertise as soon as the pandemic has ended. Additionally, 41% of respondents stated they would like telehealth for particular circumstances as soon as the pandemic is over. However, that also leaves the majority of survey takers preferring the in-person care mannequin.
“If you look at the peak, when 30-40% of all visits were virtual, that came off pretty quickly as the healthcare system reopened. But it’s also leveled off around 10% of business right now, and I think, as people now have this as a tool in their arsenal, there is going to be a lot of innovation around digital care,” Paul Brient, SVP and chief product officer at Athenahealth advised MobiHealthInformation.
We’ll see extra digital well being IPOs, in addition to extra SPAC offers
2020 was the yr of the digital well being IPO. This yr Amwell, Accolade, One Medical, Nanox and GoodRx all hit the general public market. Meanwhile, Hims is seeking to go public by way of a merger settlement with Oaktree Capital Management-sponsored particular goal acquisition firm (SPAC) Oaktree Acquisition Corp.
Not solely did we see firms go public, we additionally noticed digital well being firms flourish on the general public markets. Teladoc, one of many first firms in digital well being to go public (making its debut in 2015), continued to beat its income expectations in Q1-Q3 of 2020, partially because of the demand for telemedicine in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Livongo, which went public in 2019, was acquired by Teladoc over the summer season, giving early Livongo buyers a hefty return on funding.
Because these firms are doing so effectively it’s doubtless that different digital well being firms will take a web page from this guide and contemplate a public exit possibility.
“COVID-19 supercharged funding activity in digital health in 2020. Ten digital health categories had their best year with record funding amounts. It was also the biggest year for IPOs with six digital health companies raising over $6B. We could see a lot more companies going public in 2021 if the current IPO and SPAC boom continues,” Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, stated in a press release earlier this week.
“The pandemic has mainstreamed the consumer side of digital health technologies in less than a year. Digital health products that were a novelty a year or two ago are now a necessity.”
Companies will compete to develop into one-stop retailers for healthcare
Over the final yr, we’ve seen massive digital well being firms develop their choices and transfer nearer to an built-in care mannequin or, for shoppers, a “one-stop shop.”
Notably in August Teladoc acquired power care administration platform Livongo for a whopping $18.5 billion. At the time the businesses pitched this M&A as a means to offer “whole person” care that would change how clients entry care. The deal introduced collectively Teladoc’s conventional telehealth platform, Livongo’s digital teaching providers and a slew of information that may very well be used for higher insights about an individual’s well being.
“Together, we will further transform the healthcare experience from preventive care to the most complex cases, bringing ‘whole person’ health to consumers and greater value to our clients and shareholders as a result,” Gorevic stated in a press release on the time of the acquisition.
While Teladongo often is the poster youngster for a extra built-in care mannequin, it’s unlikely to be the one one. According to Exits and Outcomes, Teladoc’s rival Amwell is in talks with Omada. If this deal have been to return to fruition, it will have the same perform to Teladongo, the place sufferers can entry digital teaching and telemedicine by way of the identical firm.
We’re additionally seeing direct-to-consumer digital care platforms Ro and Hims, which each obtained their begin within the sexual wellness house, transfer to develop their choices and supply extra of that holistic expertise. For instance, Ro not too long ago bought on-demand in-home care service Workpath, which is ready to do house lab-sample collections. The firm additionally covers quite a lot of situations, together with smoking cessation, weight administration, allergic reactions and prescription dermatology.
In 2020, we noticed plenty of enlargement from digital well being firms. In 2021, we may even see some motion from large tech and retail. Amazon particularly has spearheaded quite a few well being applications from its digital pharmacy to a brand new wearable.
It has additionally created a digital major care providing for its Seattle-based workers. However, sooner or later we may even see extra of a connection between these choices, which may very well be a sport changer for ease and comfort for well being.
Digital psychological well being is right here to remain
During the coronavirus pandemic we noticed an uptick of parents accessing behavioral healthcare. Mental healthcare was seen as low-hanging fruit within the telemedicine house and, with new adoption charges, is prone to proceed to develop.
Fueled by the numerous quantity of funding {dollars} poured into digital psychological well being firms this yr, digital psychological well being firms may have the sources to develop.
“In H1 2020, digital behavioral health companies received $588M, roughly the annual funding for this segment in any previous year (total behavioral health funding in prior three years was 2019: $539M, 2018: $658M, 2017: $273M). Funding has gone to companies with a range of product features, from fully automated chatbots to video chat platforms with additional tools that augment patient-clinician interactions,” the authors of Rock Health’s mid-year report wrote.
While conventional telemedicine – the place a counselor or scientific talks to a affected person over video or telephone – has made it to prime time this yr, we’ve additionally seen quite a few different psychological healthcare supply fashions develop. One of the most important was digital therapeutics.
A slew of latest merchandise entered the market due to a brand new FDA steering on digital well being gadgets for treating psychiatric problems that waived a number of regulatory necessities – reminiscent of the necessity to submit a 510(okay) premarket notification – throughout the COVID-19 emergency. During that point each Pear Therapeutics and Akili Interactive launched merchandise early. Later within the yr Akili landed a de novo for its product geared toward treating kids with ADHD by way of a video game-like remedy.
“There’s this open moment because of COVID where everyone is aligned. Patients are desperate and want solutions. Providers see that these walls are broken down, and they want to respond,” Eddie Martucci, CEO of Akili Interactive, stated on the DTx East internet convention in September. “Everyone understands that we have this taste of efficiency and rapid ability to serve the patient, and we’re seeing it happen in real time. I certainly hope that pace cements itself and doesn’t recede.”
While we’re seeing extra prescription digital therapeutics for psychological well being in the marketplace, the business remains to be hammering out its distribution and reimbursement efforts. We may even see extra readability on this in 2021.
While telemedicine visits could even out this yr, the psychological well being business stays ripe for innovation. If something, the yr has proven sufferers and suppliers new use circumstances for treating behavioral well being situations digitally.
Price transparency instruments will influence affected person selection
As sufferers step as much as the plate as shoppers, there may be an growing stress to know the value tag.
GoodRx is a startup that has been working on this house for a while. It obtained its begin letting self-paying clients evaluate remedy costs and reductions. Users may then print out digital coupons and convey them to their pharmacy with their prescription.
More not too long ago, the corporate moved into the telemedicine house after shopping for Heydoctor. The firm now affords not solely in-house telemedicine providers, but in addition a worth transparency instrument for evaluating the place to get telemedicine providers.
We’re additionally persevering with to maintain our eyes on the retail giants. In 2019, Walmart launched a brand new well being platform that enables customers to guide appointments on-line at considered one of its clinics. What’s fascinating about that is that it offers sufferers a variety of how a lot the scientific care will probably be with out insurance coverage earlier than they guide.
Last January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put its weight behind a worth transparency rule, which might require hospitals to speak in confidence to sufferers their negotiated costs with payers.
Theoretically the value transparency ruling would have left sufferers with extra readability about healthcare prices. However, in actuality these instruments are sometimes troublesome to seek out and troublesome to make use of. We predict that sooner or later supplier organizations are going to should sustain with the rising transparency that retail clinics and telehealth firms present.
