Remote Care Is Here To Stay: How Telehealth Is Bridging The Gap Across The Care Continuum
Jose MoreyForbes Councils Member
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José Morey
José Morey, M.D., is considered the first intergalactic doctor. Chief medical innovation officer at Liberty BioSecurity. @DrMorey1
Over the last few months, COVID-19 has challenged everyone to think differently and adopt change at an exponential rate. Manufacturing and distilling companies are repurposing equipment to make hand sanitizers and face masks, people are sewing DIY face masks at home while stringently following CDC guidelines to flatten the curve, and telehealth, previously slowly adopted, shot to the limelight out of necessity, providing needed solutions for health care professionals during this pandemic.
The demand for innovative telehealth solutions has been felt across the entire patient care continuum, as geography, transportation and staff shortages create barriers to delivering efficient, quality health care. At the moment, more than half of U.S. states have imposed strict lockdown measures, restricting social contacts and gathering. To combat this, the health care industry rose to the challenge, undergoing a rapid shift from traditional to remote care.
This shift affords clinicians more opportunities to offer care to an optimum number of patients while streamlining patient-provider interactions at every stage of care delivery. Virtual health care ensures patients can gain access to doctors, physicians can gain access to needed medical training and information, and health care solutions can be provided to at-risk and infected patients — from diagnosis to treatment and recovery.
And with the increased use of telemedicine among patients and their caregivers, we can safely conclude that telemedicine has finally found its beachhead in the ever-evolving health care ecosystem. Here are several remote care companies providing virtual solutions, ensuring patients and clinicians minimize exposure risk with a range of telemedicine solutions.
Tyto Care
Telemedicine company Tyto Care is helping hospitals and health organizations remotely examine and diagnose quarantined and isolated symptomatic COVID-19 patients around the globe. It recently raised $50 million to meet the rising global telehealth demand.
"The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is strengthening each day and as the virus continues to spread, we are focusing our efforts where we can make the most impact – easing the burden on healthcare providers serving quarantined and isolated patients," said Dedi Gilad, Tyto Care CEO and co-founder. "Tyto Care is uniquely suited to provide the remote exam and diagnostic capabilities required to aid affected populations at scale, fully realizing telehealth's potential during this crisis. It's my hope that this pandemic passes quickly and that we can help flatten the curve."
As the first all-in-one telehealth and modular device platform, Tyto Care provides clinicians with clinical-grade data during remote exams on the heart, lungs, eyes, ears, nose, throat, skin and body temperature. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has been globally deployed by physicians as they assess and monitor symptomatic patients who can seek treatment from home while minimizing infection risk.
Immertec
Immertec, a med-tech company, facilitates remote, real-time medical and virtual surgery training for clinicians. Its MedOptic VR platform enables surgeons to continue their training remotely, with their colleagues, from anywhere in the world.
The company is currently working with several medical device companies, medical schools and health care systems. I have recently joined the company's medical advisory board as I see many benefits in Immertec's ability to explore ways surgeons can train and share knowledge virtually without fear of travel or unnecessary risk of infection at surgical sites.
Phox Health
Phox Health connects patients to locally owned pharmacies for same-day delivery, with the meds delivered right to their door. Patients have their prescriptions delivered anytime, anywhere within two hours.
Phox has integrated with multiple telemedicine platforms and health systems to provide in-home delivery of prescriptions and medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Agile PT
AgilePT, a physical therapy company with a remote physical therapy platform, is rehabbing patients' injuries from the convenience of home. Within 48 hours, patients receive exercise and treatment recommendations from a board-certified physical therapist. Trained telehealth physical therapists effectively and efficiently triage patients' injuries, providing appropriate stretches and exercises for each patient without any unnecessary travel.
The company caters to patients and employers throughout California, including several large tech firms in Silicon Valley. The group provides PT telemedicine for patients and integrates with health care practices nationally.
COVID-19 has shaken the health care industry to its core. But our systems have held strong, innovative care models have been born and our health care professionals' dedication to giving every patient a chance at life has endured.
So, what will the health care market look like post-COVID? How will patients access care? And which technological advancements will gain traction? It's hard to prognosticate in the middle of a pandemic, but we are seeing several companies rise to the occasion and develop innovative remote care models that are changing how health care is delivered today and in the future.
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José Morey, M.D., is considered the first Intergalactic Doctor, and is a leader in exponential technology innovation. Read Jose Morey's full executive profile here.…
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