Physician House Calls Are Back In An All-New Way...Are You Ready?
BY ROB FERGUSON
Partner
[February 1, 2023] –One clear silver lining to a very dark COVID cloud has been the rapid acceleration of “point-A-to-point-A” digital healthcare activities conducted online. Prior to the pandemic, connected healthcare -- from the patient’s home to the physician’s office -- was struggling to find a foothold and very much on the periphery. Those days are gone as telehealth, Hospital in Home [HiH] and Remote Patient Monitoring [RPM] continue to grow in adoption and popularity with healthcare providers and patients alike.
As recapped in Wikipedia:
“In response to the outbreak, on March 27, 2020 President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security [CARES] act into law, providing … $200 million to the Federal Communications Commission [FCC] to support healthcare providers in the fight against the ongoing pandemic. In response to the public health emergency brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to effectuate Congress’ intent in enacting the CARES Act, FCC established a Covid-19 Telehealth Program, distinct from the broader Connected-Care Pilot Program also adopted by the FCC, with a separate, congressionally appropriated budget of $200 million to help eligible healthcare providers maximize their provision of connected-care services during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
In essence, next-gen physician house calls conducted over the internet are moving deeper and deeper into healthcare’s mainstream. Somewhere, Marcus Welby and his black doctor’s bag are smiling …
If you still doubt the rapid emergence and massive upside of internet-based healthcare, consider the massive investment made by five major players since August 2021. Humana, UnitedHealth Group, Amazon, CVSHealth, and Walgreens have paid a combined $23 billion+ to acquire in-home healthcare companies, knowing this New Age approach to diagnostics and remote monitoring reduces costs related to ER visits, lessens the likelihood of hospital re-admissions and, in some cases, speeds up recovery times [especially for patients with neuro or ortho conditions that limit their ability to physically travel to an appointment].
A recent study conducted by McKinsey & Company predicts as much as $265 billion in care services for Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will migrate from traditional in- facility care to internet-based, in-home care by 2025, a mere two years away. With an aging population of Baby Boomers [nearly 70 million will fall into the 58-76-year range by 2030], “aging in place” is becoming a more viable option. The future appears bright for those companies who move in this direction.
But there are some headwinds.
Some companies do it well, others do not … and here’s why.
Like any trailblazing trend, there are twists and turns on the journey and in-home healthcare is no exception. To begin with, technology equates to infrastructure and that infrastructure has got to be up to the task for telehealth, HiH and RPM to succeed. The quality of infrastructure varies from state to state, even region by region. At a fundamental level, the headwinds start with internet availability, especially in rural areas which understandably have the greatest need for remote healthcare since local facilities are more limited than in more populated areas and driving distances to the closest facilities are greater. Unfortunately, these are also the areas more likely to have internet “dead zones” or pockets of weak, outdated signal strength. There are also hardware considerations including bandwidth, dedicated routers, and signal range, dedicated cell networks, etc.
Additionally, data capture and image quality are key considerations for effective in-home care, as well as compliance rates with patients. An August 2021 study released by Mayo Clinic tracked compliance among 7,000 patients across 41 states who participated in RPM programs as part of COVID treatment. While remote monitoring and treatment were determined to be safe and effective options, especially during a pandemic, only 79% of patients played along and engaged with the RPM technology.
Looking a little deeper, only 60-70% of those completed self-reporting tasks which means they failed to provide required vital signs or symptoms. While some of that is due to patient apathy, it could also be due to device pairing issues, user reporting errors, user discomfort, intermittent data, lack of overnight monitoring, etc.
Further complicating the issue of data capture is healthcare inequity which results in a lack of usable data [in some cases, a complete lack of data] from many of America’s disadvantaged communities. From a 2021 opinion piece for Scientific American co-written by Daniel E. Dawes and Karen DeSalvo, “… we can no longer ignore the need to address health inequities in a real way. This threat is so existential in nature that, according to a recent CDC study, African-Americans lost 2.7 years of life expectancy while Latinx individuals lost nearly two years of life expectancy.”
Yet another obstacle is reimbursement which varies from state to state. As an example, the Carolinas have low reimbursement levels for various diagnostics, making in-home care too costly for providers while Florida and Texas have very friendly and enticing levels of reimbursement. There exists great inconsistency in reimbursement across the country. That will have to change if there is to be widespread adoption of this type of in-home/remote healthcare.
Finally, there is no standard software for this type of in-home care so healthcare providers are often tasked with having to learn multiple software systems, diluting their familiarity and proficiency with each program. Whoever comes forth with a one-size-fits-all software solution will enjoy their ride to the bank.
To succeed in this new healthcare frontier, healthcare companies, in general, and medtech companies, specifically, must find ways to fight off these headwinds to successfully navigate the most significant shift in healthcare today and one that will likely become huge in the future.
It can be done … but not easily.
Don’t go it alone.
“The development of smart sensors and the decreasing cost of devices have made it possible to offer chronic disease management, including aging-in-place and post-acute care services in the home,” according to a recent trade publication article by Dr. Jennifer Kent. “Truly continuous patient monitoring at home typically occurs in one of two approaches: Wireless wearable monitoring sensors, patches, and devices or via environmental sensors.”
Earlier this month in Las Vegas at CES 2023 [formerly called Consumer Electronics Show], Movano Health unveiled “Evie”, a stylish line of wearable smart rings designed to track the unique health needs of women at all stages of their lives, including heart rate, SpO 2 , and respiration rates. “Evie” caught the eye of judges at the wildly popular annual tradeshow which showcases the latest innovations in health, home tech, lifestyle and automotive, and garnered 10 “Best of CES” awards from major media publications, including USA Today, CNN, Wired, Digital Trends, etc. As in-home and off-premise healthcare gains steam, expect many more of these types of healthcare innovations to hit the market.
But nothing is a slam dunk. Navigating the complex journey to market can be daunting. I advise you to partner with people who can assess the landscape and work with you to design the right strategy for success. Contact Excelerant Consulting and let’s chat.
info@excelerantconsulting.com
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ABOUT ROB FERGUSON
With more than 30 years’ of experience in Neurology, Sleep, Cardiac, and Physical Medicine sectors, Rob possesses a comprehensive understanding of how the healthcare industry operates. He has worked in leadership, management, sales, operations, and marketing and has led successful commercialization of new diagnostic products in North America, South America, and Europe.
Rob has a keen understanding of next-gen patient treatment protocols that have accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Hospital in Home [HiH], Remote Patient Monitoring [RPM] and Software as Sales [SaS]. He understands how these rapidly accelerating approaches come together for providers to treat patients safely, effectively, and efficiently in an increasingly online, digital world. His analytical approach amplifies your company’s value proposition and ensures your product or service meets all necessary requirements.
Contact Rob at: rferguson@excelerantconsulting.com
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ABOUT EXCELERANT CONSULTING
Excelerant Consulting assists medical device and services companies seeking to position new products for Value Analysis Committees, contract acquisition, sales modeling and execution. Its focus is on small- to mid-sized companies wanting their innovative solutions in the hands of healthcare clinicians, thereby reducing healthcare costs and improving patient care.
Excelerant works with clients to develop a highly strategic, end-to-end plan that ensures the new product or service is approved and embraced by Group Purchasing Organizations [GPOs], Integrated Delivery Networks [IDNs], or Regional Purchasing Coalitions [RPCs]. With a combination of deeply experienced, multi-disciplined consultants and carefully selected strategic partners, Excelerant offers full support from early-stage validation to go-to-market commercialization, making the journey to market-profitability speedy, efficient, and managed under one umbrella.
Contact Excelerant Consulting at: info@excelerantconsulting.com