Category: Telemedicine | Telehealth
Confidence in digital health technologies’ and tools’ potential continues to progress as health systems continue to invest in a more digital health care experience – focusing on connecting with, communicating with, and monitoring patients outside the health system’s walls.
Successful adopters of PET have started with buy-in at the senior leadership level, redesigning the organizational strategy to become more consumer/patient-obsessed.
Digital health technologies have rapidly penetrated many aspects of consumers’ interactions with health care organizations, including how they make health care decisions and interact with their health plan. With so much information and technologies out there, it is not easy to build interventions or technologies easily adapted and effectively used to change lives. Behavioral science has barely scratched the surface of health care. The next decade will see health care begin to embrace behavioral science findings and methodologies, moving beyond the one-size-fits-all transactional delivery of care.
Blue Shield of California has announced three tobacco-cessation online providers to its popular Wellvolution platform, the largest Digital Therapeutics (DTX or PDT), and community network in the healthcare industry. With 49 million Americans using tobacco of some kind, the increased risk for multiple diseases has largely driven Blue Shield to add three new clinically proven health solutions for the 23,000+ members enrolled in Wellvolution.
Opear MD, a digital health membership-based app for on-demand house calls and telemedicine appointments, has announced two initiatives to increase healthcare accessibility and affordability during COVID-19.
Amwell has filed to go public under the New York Stock Exchange symbol AMWL. Google Cloud’s $100 million investment will be a concurrent private placement at the IPO price. The company didn’t indicate a proposed size for the offering, nor did it give an anticipated price range, but it provided a placeholder amount of $100 million to calculate its registration fee. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs & Co., LLC, Piper Sandler, UBS Investment Bank, Credit Suisse and Cowen Berenberg are listed as underwriters for the IPO.
Adventist Health, a nonprofit integrated multi-state health system servicing over 10 million people in more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii, has announced a strategic partnership with Synchronous Health to co-develop behavioral health and well-being solutions to address the biggest drivers of health costs and community needs. The partnership includes an investment, Adventist Health said in a news release. Further financial terms were not immediately available.
HouseWorks, one of the nation’s largest independent private home healthcare companies, and Capsule, the largest full-service independent digital pharmacy in the nation, recently announced a partnership that will bring Capsule’s effortless, free same-day delivery pharmacy benefits to HouseWorks’ clients as HouseWorks builds a medication management program to improve the overall health and safety of its clients. This comprehensive approach is all part of HouseWorks’ BetterCare at HomeTM mission and desire to wrap their clients and families in a safety net of support to enable them to stay safe, comfortable and engaged in their lives.
Digital behavioral health leader Talkspace has announced the launch a new campaign, in partnership with Michael Phelps, to highlight coverage for over 40 million Americans. The goal of this partnership campaign is to promote access to affordable mental health services on a HIPAA-compliant web and mobile platform. Currently, Talkspace is covered by the nation’s largest health insurers, including Cigna, Optum, Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Humana. Talkspace also offers coverage plans directly through employers, educational institutions and other large member organizations. – Digital Health Times
eSight has revealed its fourth-generation (eSight 4) wearable assistive device for enhancing vision in those with eye disease and disorders. New features of the wireless, hands-free device include improved auto-focus, advanced controls such as zoom, focus, and contrast, and two high-resolution screens for a full binocular vision that integrates with the user’s prescription lenses. The eSight 4 is available through a growing number of Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, distributors specializing in low vision assistive technology, and at http://www.eSightEyewear.com.
