Digital Health bits | July 14th 2021
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer
#DigitalHealth #Innovation #AI #DigitalTherapeutics #TeleHealth #TeleMedicine
Future of telehealth for health systems depends on infrastructure and analytics
A new McKinsey report indicates consumers see telehealth as an important modality for their future needs: Around 40% of surveyed consumers said they would continue to use telehealth going forward, up from 11% using telehealth prior to COVID-19.
Between 40% and 60% expressed interest in a set of broader virtual health solutions such as a "digital front door" or a lower-cost virtual-first health plan.
"For healthcare organizations, the question about what investments to make may depend on what infrastructure and analytics they already have, and how virtual care and telehealth can augment that to provide efficient and high-quality care," Oleg Bestsennyy, McKinsey expert associate partner, told HealthcareFinanceNews.
Telehealth can help patients avoid unnecessary ER visits and help hospital systems extend access to services to different facilities and geographies, increasing the number of patients they are able to serve locally.
For example, coupling remote patient monitoring devices with telehealth technologies, member engagement applications and human coaching may help an organization manage certain chronic conditions more efficiently.
"Payers can also apply telehealth to improve proactive, preventive care for members that may have transportation difficulties or time constraints for in-person doctor appointments –this proactive care may potentially lead to reduced avoidable exacerbations such as unplanned ER visits down the line," Bestsennyy said.
Carrot gets FDA nod for over-the-counter use of smoking cessation device
Digital health startup Carrot received the green light from regulators for patients to use its smoking cessation device without physician oversight. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company makes an at-home device, called Pivot, that measures carbon monoxide in a person’s breath, which enters the bloodstream when a person smokes.
Based on this device data, the company has built a digital health program including real-time feedback, text-based coaching and nicotine replacement treatment delivered to patients’ homes. It’s also drummed up partnerships with some health plans, including New York Life and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina.
Part of the goal behind the company is to make quitting tobacco more accessible, rather than an intimidating, all-or-nothing process.
The expanded indication was based on a single-arm, open-label study of 234 people who smoke. They used the device for 12 weeks, and filled out questionnaires on their attitudes toward quitting smoking and smoking behavior.
By the end of the study, a little less than half of participants said they intended to quit smoking in the next month, compared to about 15% at the start of the study. About 55% of participants’ motivations remained unchanged, whether or not they intended to quit.
Digitisation key to improving mental health services in England; report
Faced with a looming mental health crisis, the UK government has been urged to invest in the digitisation of service provision across the NHS in England in a new report from think tank Future Care Capital.
The study’s author – FCC’s head of policy and research Dr Peter Bloomfield, argues that there has been a lack of support for mental health services for many years in the UK, and the pathways for accessing them are “convoluted, waiting lists are extensive, and outcomes are poor over the long term.”
He recommends “a complementary approach, including face-to-face care and digital support,” coupled with research into digital tools that can prevent mental health as well as complementing acute care.
There is a real opportunity for digital technologies to deliver new interventions in mental healthcare, according to the report, although it added more research is needed to understand what types of technologies would be “effective, needed, and scalable.”
The recommendations come as services in the UK have been stretched to the limit with an estimated 10 million citizens needing help with their mental health as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the disruption to social networks and livelihoods.
That has been accompanied by a “staggering rise” in in mental health issues amongst NHS staff during the coronavirus pandemic, with a survey suggesting almost one in four (22%) met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The Rise Of Digital Health And Genomics In Europe
Structural trends such as inequality, ageing populations, systemic inefficiencies, and improving connectivity have reinforced the need for the adoption of technology in the healthcare sector. While the healthcare sector was slow to embrace the digital transformation offered by emerging technologies for many years, the pandemic has been a catalyst to the adoption of telemedicine and digital health globally. The overall digital health market is expected to grow from $216 billion in 2020 to more than $657 billion by 2026. In the following piece, we explore the digitisation of healthcare in Europe and the telemedicine, digital health, and genomics companies leading in the region.
European countries face several health-related challenges, including ageing populations, chronic diseases, unequal quality and access to healthcare services, and a shortage of health professionals. In Europe, digital health emerged as a strategic health priority well before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crisis further accelerated its adoption across the block.
Terms such as genomics, telemedicine and healthtech are increasingly parts of the investment vocabulary. The long-term nature of such areas makes them well-suited to the wealth management audience. This article delves into the details.
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Mytonomy scores $25M to engage patients with educational video content
Mytonomy, a video-based patient engagement company, closed a $25 million Series B funding round led by Level Equity.
The company’s customer relationship management platform uses short-form video content and digital communications to engage with patients across the care continuum.
The platform includes modules like the Patient Experience Cloud, Content Cloud, Communications Cloud and Analytics Cloud that are designed to create a digital infrastructure for healthcare organizations.
Mytonomy’s production studio has created more than 2,000 original videos that span a variety of conditions and procedures such as cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, pregnancy, senior living, behavioral health and more.
The company works with health systems, health plans and employers, and pharma and Medtech companies to engage with patients in the hopes of creating better clinical and financial outcomes.
Huge rise in ‘very helpful’ electronic prescribing
The number of electronic prescriptions being used in Australia is increasing by 500,000 every week.
The continued growth of electronic prescriptions is being supported by a Federal Government subsidy that is funding general practices to prescribe via SMS, and it was recently announced that the scheme will continue until at least the end of September.
Dr David Adam, a member of RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management (REC–PTM), welcomed the extension to a system he says has been working very well.
But Dr Adam would also like to see more clarity regarding any proposed funding support for electronic prescriptions beyond that date, with the current subsidy meaning the SMS prescriptions are free for GPs to issue.
‘Overall, I think everyone involved can be really pleased, the system seems to be working really well,’ Dr Adam told newsGP.
‘We need some certainty about what’s happening in the long term. The cost [unsubsidised SMS prescriptions] is not huge but it’s not insignificant – it will definitely make a difference to practices.’
As of 6 July, 11,298,828 million original and repeat electronic prescriptions have been issued since the system was launched, according to data collated by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which oversees the scheme.
These include ‘tokens’ – a link to a unique QR code representing a prescription – issued by SMS, email or via an app.
What Are Omnichannel Patient Engagement Technologies?
Omnichannel patient engagement technologies include the multimodal systems organizations use to connect with consumers.
Add yet another phrase to the list of healthcare buzzwords: omnichannel patient engagement technologies.
The rise of the health IT sector, combined with a growing appetite from patients for more healthcare consumerism, has pushed omnichannel patient engagement technologies into the limelight.
The term omnichannel engagement derives from the sales space, where companies pitch a seamless customer shopping experience, according to BigCommerce.com. Using a variety of tools, each of which is connected to one another, customers are able to enter the shopping experience from multiple platforms without friction or interruption.
For example, a shopper might scroll on social media, see a targeted ad, view the item on the store’s website, and then purchase it in the brick-and-mortar location.
Omnichannel patient engagement technologies and strategies reflect that model but apply it to the patient experience. By giving patients a unified pathway across the patient experience and care continuum, healthcare organizations can meet the rising demands of healthcare consumerism.
Medorion raises $6M to help payers understand patient behaviors
Israeli startup Medorion, which makes an AI tool to help payers analyze patient's health decisions, scored $6 million in a funding. The round was led by 10D, with participation from iAngels and TAU Ventures.
The company designed a tool that uses AI in order to go through both medical claims and social determinants of health data and evaluate factors driving a patients' healthcare decisions. The system considers potential "psychological, environmental and economic factors."
The program was designed to help insurance companies determine potential risk and in turn make any clinical adjustments to cater to individual patients, thereby cutting costs. The company gives insurers what it calls an "Electronic Behavioral Record" for members of their health plans.
Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer