Healthcare Industry Shift to Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions Exploding Since Pandemic

Financialnewsmedia.com News Commentary

PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In the healthcare industry, the recent shift from traditional revenue streams to reimbursement of remote services is changing… and charging the industry. A new trend in digital health is taking place. Leading providers which relied by and large on premium content, coaching subscriptions, and bundle services (incl. devices and sensors purchases) are now shifting towards payer focused business models by offering Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and telehealth as their main source of revenue. Traditionally, mobile health providers of chronic care solutions monetized mainly through the payer, healthcare providers and consumers. Although the yearly revenues per user have risen worldwide, the traditional revenue streams have grown steadily. A report from Data Bridge Market Research said that the Remote Patient Monitoring and Care Market is estimated to grow at CAGR of 8.76 % in the forecast period of 2020 to 2027. It added that the growth of the Remote Patient Monitoring and Care market was mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world, however latest COVID scenario and economic slowdown have changed complete market dynamics saying that the market will rise from COVID-19 crisis at moderate growth rate during 2020 to 2027.  Active companies in the markets this week include: Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC), Skylight Health Group Inc. (OTCQX: CBIIF) (CSE: SHG), CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (OTCPK: DOCRF) (TSX-V: DOC), WELL Health Technologies Corp. (OTCPK: WLYYF) (TSX: WELL), Ontrak, Inc. (NASDAQ: OTRK).

Another report from Research 2 Guidance, added that: "Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) will become the primary revenue source for digital chronic care companies in the next 2-3 years. As a result of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, national healthcare systems and local governments have proceeded to reduce barriers to entry by supporting remote services. Within an optimistic reimbursement environment for telemedicine, the first adopters of these reimbursable remote services are already experiencing higher returns on their investment."  It continued: "Last year, the separation of reimbursable and consumer revenues limited the digital chronic care providers considerably. This is no longer the case. Along with the COVID19 outbreak putting new priority on remote health services, governments have once again proceeded to enable a favorable regulatory environment for providers integrating telehealth and RPM services into their chronic care portfolio.

Skylight Health Group Inc. (CSE: SHG) (OTCQX: CBIIF) BREAKING NEWS: Skylight Health Partners with GatherMed to Launch Remote Patient Monitoring Covered through Insurance for Patients with Hypertension - Skylight Health Group Inc. (formerly CB2 Insights) ("Skylight Health" or the "Company"), one of the largest multi-specialty healthcare systems in the United States, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Remote Care Services Clinical Agreement with GatherMed to provide Skylight patients with Remote Patient Monitoring ("RPM") tools and services for patients with hypertension. The agreement will provide access immediately to the Company's national network of patients to utilize this product to manage their ongoing care.

Utilization and deployment of RPM devices has seen an exponential growth in the last few years and especially after the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. As more patients seek to remain safe and at home, managing care and communicating with their health care provider has never been more crucial. RPM devices are getting broader support from regulatory agencies as tools that complement the patient journey, allowing physicians and care teams to remotely monitor, track and support their patients needs.

Prad Sekar, CEO, Skylight Health said "We are proud to partner with GatherMed in this initiative. The GatherMed team has been developing emerging technologies in the healthcare diagnostic space for decades and we look forward to their experience to helping our patients see improved health outcomes. This partnership represents a massive opportunity to realize the value from our growing national clinical base upon which we continue to validate our model and thesis of a multi-disciplinary approach to healthcare."

Brett Landrum, CEO, GatherMed said "We have helped companies commercialize many esoteric diagnostic solutions that have helped save hundreds of thousand of lives. GatherMed for us represents a simple solution that leverages technology in all the right ways to help people avoid one of the deadliest diseases known to mankind. We are excited for what this can mean for patients at Skylight Health Group and look forward to an expanded opportunity to support the care of their roster as they continue to scale and grow."

Skylight will launch with GatherMed devices beginning in its Washington clinic with the goal of scaling across to other states shortly after. Integration with Skylight's technology platform will enable quicker access to information by the Skylight healthcare team. Skylight patients receive the device at no cost to them. As per the Agreement, Skylight will purchase the device from GatherMed for a one-time fee of USD 95 and a monthly monitoring fee of USD 65 per patient per month.

In return, Skylight will retain 100% of the earnings from insurable reimbursements from US payors. Reimbursable benefits will include a one-time payment of USD 21 per patient and then an average monthly recurring payment of up to USD 160 per patient per month. Annually, this could be up to USD 1,920 per patient per year for each patient using the device as per minimum guidelines set by the payor groups. Skylight currently has over 120,000 patients of which an estimated 40% of patients could benefit from this program.      Read the full release for Skylight Health Group at:  https://skylighthealthgroup.com/press-releases/  

Other recent developments in the healthcare industry include:

CloudMD Software & Services Inc. (OTCPK: DOCRF) (TSXV: DOC), a telehealth company seeking to revolutionize the delivery of healthcare to patients, recently announced it is expanding its already established relationship with Save-On-Foods, Western Canada's largest grocery chain, to provide an on-demand telemedicine service to its customers. Save-On-Foods has over 180 stores across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Yukon.

Earlier this year, CloudMD and Save-On-Foods announced plans to pilot telemedicine kiosks in nine pharmacies across British Columbia. The kiosk enables customers to see a doctor for prescriptions and non-emergency health concerns in real time, on-site. After the virtual visit, prescriptions can be submitted directly to the same pharmacy for fulfillment. Now, Save-On-Foods is adding an additional service to its customers, offering them more efficient access to medical care.

WELL Health Technologies Corp. (OTCPK: WLYYF) (TSX: WELL) recently announced that it has launched a direct-to-consumer online service for the sale and support of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Antibody Tests in the Province of Ontario.  Eligible patients can obtain a doctor's requisition for the Antibody test via Tia Health on a 24/7 basis, for $70 per test.  Once a requisition is obtained the patient will be able to have their sample collected at a leading national medical laboratory and diagnostics company and can access the results online.

WELL via its Tia Health subsidiary, has partnered with a leading national medical laboratory to provide eligible patients with online medical consultations and requisitions for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Antibody Testing. Through its partner, WELL is offering a highly accurate blood test to provide information on the SARS-CoV-2 immune response in previously diagnosed patients and to help identify individuals who have been exposed to the virus but not diagnosed with molecular testing. Such tests are available with a doctor's requisition and determine the presence of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies in a patient's blood.

Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC), the global leader in whole person virtual care, recently announced that it has completed its merger with Livongo. The milestone marks completion of the most significant blending of capabilities and talent in the history of digital health. By joining the market leaders in virtual care and applied health signals, the combined company becomes the only consumer and healthcare provider partner to span a person's entire health journey.

"Both Teladoc Health and Livongo were founded with the same mission: to create a new kind of healthcare experience, one that empowers people everywhere to live their healthiest life. Today's news dramatically accelerates our ability to make this a reality for the tens of millions of consumers and healthcare professionals we serve around the world," said Jason Gorevic, chief executive officer of Teladoc Health. "Together, our team will achieve the full promise of whole-person virtual care, leveraging our combined applied analytics, expert guidance and connected technology to deliver, enable and empower better health outcomes."

Ontrak, Inc. (NASDAQ: OTRK), a leading AI-powered and telehealth-enabled, virtualized healthcare company, recently announced it ranked 279 on Deloitte's Technology fast 500™, a ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy tech companies in North America, now in its 26^th year. Technology Fast 500 award winners are selected based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2016 to 2019. In order to be eligible for Technology Fast 500 recognition, companies must own proprietary intellectual property or technology that is sold to customers in products that contribute to a majority of the company's operating revenues.

Ontrak Chairman and CEO, Terren Peizer, credits the proven savings and associated ROI, industry-leading member satisfaction scores and national customer expansions with the company's 376% revenue growth. "We are honored to be recognized for our proprietary IP and the technological innovation that enables Ontrak to identify, engage, and create lasting behavior change in the lives of those with unaddressed behavioral health conditions and chronic disease. Ontrak is humbled to be in the company of Technology Fast 500 award winners like Zoom (ranked 131) and Slack (ranked 236), whose growth trajectories have been driven by game-changing technology products with exceptionally high customer satisfaction scores. We are also proud to be the highest ranked healthcare IT company in the Technology Fast 500, amongst companies of similar size," said Mr. Peizer.

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